


give me one night, one minute

by Fives (janfives90)



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F, parts of canon occur within this but it's basically just a general au, warnings: homophobic violence and references to abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-09-18 23:01:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 27,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20320951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janfives90/pseuds/Fives
Summary: Alyssa rolls her eyes and slides her afternoon textbooks onto the lower shelf. “Fine. I’m shorter than you, so I’ll use the bottom one.”“Aw. That’s what I wanted.”Alyssa turns to glare at her, but she sees a sharp glint of humor in Emma’s eyes.“Well, that’s just too bad, Nolan. It’s mine now.”Emma stretches over her and puts her own books on the top shelf. “I didn’t realize you’d be so demanding, Alyssa Greene.”





	1. Part One

**I.**

“I can’t believe they did locker assignment _randomly_ and I still got Kaylee,” Shelby laughs, popping the front tire of her bike off of the ground and balancing far longer than most could. “Who did you get, Alyssa?”

“Emma Nolan.”

Shelby and Kaylee both stop, and Alyssa has to brake hard to avoid riding her bike straight into them.

“What?” Alyssa blinks. “Why are you both staring at me like that?”

“I mean…” Shelby hesitates awkwardly, glancing at Kaylee.

“She’s kinda weird, ‘Lys. Remember?” Kaylee lowers her voice to a conspiratorial whisper that isn’t particularly quiet at all. “Like, watches the cheerleaders a little too closely weird.”

“…What does _that_ mean?” Alyssa asks, ignoring the uncomfortable twist deep in her gut. “I know she takes care of the equipment for the band, so of course she’s always at the games…”

“Kaylee isn’t talking about the fact that she’s _there at all,”_ Shelby says quietly. “She’s saying that Nolan’s… you know… _not normal.”_

“Oh,” is all Alyssa says.

Shelby starts peddling towards the high school again, and the other two follow. “Tough break, Alyssa.”

“Yeah,” Alyssa mumbles. “Tough break.”

+++

She finds Emma at their shared locker, fighting with the combination.

“Dammit,” Emma mumbles. She pushes her glasses up her nose, almost absentmindedly, and sighs. “Work with me here.”

“Trouble?” Alyssa asks, leaning on the locker next to theirs.

“I can’t get it to-” Emma looks up and freezes, staring at Alyssa. “Oh.”

“Oh?”

“I-I… uh… Hi.”

Alyssa smiles at her. “Hi. Did you have a good summer?”

“Yeah, I guess. Didn’t have to try to open any lockers.” Emma gives her a crooked grin, and Alyssa feels that uncomfortable twist again. “I swear I’m putting it in right, but it’s not working.”

“You’re putting in 2-17-29, right?”

“Ye-” Emma stops and sighs again. “No. I was doing 2-29-17.”

Alyssa giggles and pats her on the shoulder, moving her out of the way gently so she can open the lock. “That would do it.”

Emma lets her head fall against the locker she’s leaning on. “I’m still on summer brain. Should be promising.”

“If it’s any consolation, I’m right there with you.” Alyssa opens the door of the locker and points at the shelves. “Do you want the top or the bottom?”

“Up to you.”

“I asked you first.”

“And I asked you second.”

Alyssa rolls her eyes and slides her afternoon textbooks onto the lower shelf. “Fine. I’m shorter than you, so I’ll use the bottom one.”

“Aw. That’s what I wanted.”

Alyssa turns to glare at her, but she sees a sharp glint of humor in Emma’s eyes.

“Well, that’s just too bad, Nolan. It’s mine now.”

Emma stretches over her and puts her own books on the top shelf. “I didn’t realize you’d be so demanding, Alyssa Greene.”

“I can be whatever I want to be.”

Emma lets out a soft laugh. “Yeah, you sure can.”

* * *

**II.**

Emma stands next to the bleachers in a red polo shirt, casually watching the cheerleaders perform at halftime.

Well. Watching _Alyssa_ perform at halftime.

…Watching Alyssa’s _legs_ at halfti-

The shove hits her hard in the center of her back, and she only just barely stays on her feet as she turns around.

A few of the boys from the hockey team are standing there, glaring at her. Shelby’s boyfriend, Kevin, is towards the back of the group. There’s discomfort in his eyes, but, if he’s at all uncertain about what’s happening here, she knows he won’t say anything.

Nobody ever does.

The boy who shoved her, the team captain, an unfairly large senior named Frank, towers over her.

“No big surprises here,” he sneers. “The sophomore freak is right where we’d expect. Lusting over the cheerleaders.”

Emma swallows. “Wow, Frank. I didn’t know you knew big words like ‘lusting’ and ‘sophomore’.”

He grabs her by the collar of her shirt and slams her against one of the supports of the bleachers. “We all know what you are. You aren’t fooling anybody. Why don’t you just admit it?”

“I-I don’t know what you-”

“Just say it, freak. Admit it. Tell us _alllll_ what you really are, say it out loud, and it’ll be _so much easier.”_

It occurs to her, then, that _someone_ is recording this, because a handful of idiot hockey players who already pretty much know that she’s gay forcing her to say it isn’t going to change much of anything.

She spots the phone in the hands of one of the juniors, and all it does is piss her off.

“Fuck you. You don’t know a damn thing.”

Frank’s eyes narrow in anger, and he pulls a fist back, ready to punch her. “This is your very last chance, freak. _Say it.”_

“Go fuck yourself.”

She braces herself for the inevitable blow, but before it can come, a sharp voice yells, _“Hey!”_

They all turn in time to see the principal, Mr. Hawkins, hurrying down the ramp from the bleachers.

“What is going on down here?!”

Frank drops Emma and scatters with the rest of the boys. Emma goes to run, too, but Hawkins grabs her by the collar as she’s getting up off the ground.

“Miss Nolan,” he says, his voice stern. “What is going on? What was that?”

The cheerleaders have come off the field during the confrontation, and she can see them on the sidelines, watching her.

Alyssa is squinting, a frown on her face, looking almost concerned.

“N-Nothing, sir,” Emma stammers. “We were just talking.”

“…Talking.”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s what you want me to believe?”

“If it’ll work, sir.”

He softens as he releases the collar of her shirt. “Emma,” he murmurs. “You know you can tell me if something’s wrong, don’t you?”

She brushes some dirt off of her jeans. “Everything’s fine.” She glances over at Alyssa, a mistake when they make eye contact.

She feels queasy all of a sudden, tears trying to betray her, and she shakes her head quickly. “I have to go get something from the band room.”

Emma turns and hurries away, ignoring whatever question Mr. Hawkins tries to ask.

+++

Alyssa opens the door of the music room and steps inside, closing it behind her quietly.

She can see Emma standing on the other side of the room, hands and forehead pressed against the concrete wall, her shoulders shaking.

“Nolan?”

There’s a sigh that sounds more like a sob, and Emma says, “What are you doing here, Greene? You’re supposed to be out there. You still have half a game left.”

Alyssa pauses, sliding her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “Nolan, the game’s over. You’ve been in here for almost an hour.”

“Oh.” Emma gives a choked laugh. “Amazing how that time flies, huh?”

“I was worried when you didn’t come back, so I came to find you.” Alyssa walks forward, reaching to set a hand on Emma’s shoulder before hesitating and letting her arm fall back down to her side. “You looked…” She swallows, the brief flashes that she had been able to see of the hockey team pinning her lockermate to the bleachers burned into her brain. Her voice drops to a whisper. “Do you want to tell me what Frank and the others wanted from you?”

Emma pushes off of the wall and turns, and Alyssa feels a sharp pain in her heart at the fear and agony in her eyes. “Does it matter?” she asks. “Why do I even need to say it? You all already know, Greene, don’t pretend that you don’t.”

Realization sinks through her, a heavy weight that takes her stomach with it.

“You’re gay,” Alyssa murmurs.

Emma nods slowly. “I-I… I-I-I… I’m… I-I’m… I’m…” She takes in a deep breath and finishes in a whisper. “…gay…”

She slides down until she’s sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest, crying so hard she’s almost hyperventilating.

Alyssa drops down onto her knees in front of her, cupping her face in her hands. “Nolan. It’s _okay,”_ she says gently. “It’s gonna be okay.” She’s not sure what drives her to do it, but she presses a soft kiss to Emma’s forehead, then rests their heads together. “Shh,” she whispers. “It’s okay. I’m not going to tell anyone.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Emma whimpers. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to fix this.”

Alyssa clears her throat to try to keep her voice from wavering. “You don’t need to fix it. Okay? Listen to me. _Emma_, look at me.” She lifts Emma’s face, bringing them eye to eye. “I _promise_ you. Those idiots out there are just idiots. There is _nothing_ wrong with you.”

Emma’s breathing starts to calm, and she rests her head back against the wall. “Why are you okay with this?” she asks, sounding exhausted. “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll… I dunno. Whatever it is everyone else is afraid of.”

“I’m definitely not afraid of you. You’re just human.” Alyssa shrugs. “Besides. If you didn’t find me at least a _little_ hot, I should probably be offended, right?”

Emma blinks at her, confused.

Alyssa laughs awkwardly and stands up, turning away with a wince. “So, uh, anyway, I need to get going before my mom starts wondering where I am. Are you okay?”

“Better now,” Emma replies, still giving her a curious look.

“Right. Well. I’ll see you in school on Monday.”

“…Okay. Thank you, Greene.”

“Sure. Of course.” Alyssa gives a small, nervous wave, then hurries out of the room.

* * *

**III.**

Christmas break lands during a week of rampant snowstorms.

Alyssa lays in the snow in front of the firepit in Kaylee’s backyard, enjoying the warmth as Shelby chases Kaylee clumsily in the knee-deep snow. She grabs Kaylee around the waist and spins her a few times, laughing, before they both tumble down into a snowbank.

Alyssa catches herself wondering, not for the first time, whether either of them has ever noticed how they look at each other.

The sound of a different laughter draws her attention, and Alyssa gets to her feet, wandering over to the fence.

She’s known forever that Emma lives next to Kaylee, but it still catches her off guard to see her, dressed poorly for the weather in jeans, sneakers, and a relatively thin coat, running around the yard next door, having a snowball fight with her cousin.

Emma notices her and stops, staring just a little stupidly, and a snowball catches her right in the side of the face.

Alyssa snorts out a laugh and covers her mouth with a gloved hand as Emma splutters and adjusts her glasses.

“Timeout,” she gasps. “Timeout. Jesus, Greg, give me a minute.”

He jumps up onto a patio chair and poses dramatically. “There are no timeouts! Only forfeits!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Emma walks over to the fence, pushing her glasses up on her nose. “Hi, Greene.”

“Hey. Sorry to make you forfeit.”

“He would’ve won anyway. I’m not exactly athletic.”

Alyssa laughs. “Yeah, why do you think I’m avoiding the disaster that’s going on behind me?”

Emma rolls her eyes and lets out a snort. “Oh, please. I’ve seen your abs and I’ve seen you do a backflip. You’re not going to pull that one on me, Greene.” She pauses, her whole face flushing red. “I-I… I mean…”

That uncomfortable _twist_ is back in Alyssa’s stomach again.

She got it when she first met Emma, and she’s gotten it a few times since, whenever Emma is being particularly cute or a little bit flirty.

She got it once back in seventh grade, too, far weaker but still there, when Shelby convinced her to be her practice for kissing before Shelby’s first ever date with Kevin.

She thinks she knows what it means.

She’s not sure she wants to.

Alyssa laughs, trying to keep Emma from panicking. “Yeah, well, just because I stay in shape doesn’t mean I like doing it.”

“Huh. Do you do anything for fun, Greene?”

“Depends, Nolan, what do you- _shit!”_ Alyssa yelps as Emma takes the snowball she’s still holding in her hand and taps it down on the top of Alyssa’s head. “Oh my _God!”_

Emma shrugs. “You looked like you needed some fun.”

“You…” Alyssa looks behind her, where Shelby has Kaylee on her shoulders so she can pluck icicles off of one of the trees. “Hey, guys, I’ll be back in a minute, I just need to go kill my lockermate.”

Kaylee gives her a weird look, but Shelby barely even reacts as she says, “Just be back before dinner; Kaylee’s mom won’t feed us if we aren’t all here.”

Alyssa puts her foot on the center support of the wooden fence and hops over, landing in front of Emma in the yard. Emma takes a few steps back, raising her hands in front of her.

“Hey, I’m just trying to be helpful, Greene.”

“You’re still a dead man, Nolan.”

“Look-”

Greg dumps an entire armful of snow on top of Emma’s head, then shoves her towards Alyssa. “She’s all yours,” he giggles before sprinting away towards the front gate.

Emma rounds towards him, coughing. “You-”

Alyssa hits her in the back of the head with a snowball.

Emma pauses, visibly shivering as some of the snow and slush drips down beneath her jacket. She turns to face Alyssa, eyes narrow. “Oh. It’s on now, Greene.”

“I would _love_ to see you try.”

Emma runs at Alyssa, stumbling in the deep snow. Alyssa laughs and dodges out of the way, and they chase each other around the yard.

* * *

**IV.**

Emma grins as she watches Alyssa spin down the hall, goofing off and singing with Kaylee and Shelby as they head to class.

Greg joins her, putting an arm around her shoulders. “Why don’t you just go talk to them? The only way you make friends is by talking to people, Em.”

“Uh, yeah, I’ll pass. Besides, I _was_ Kaylee’s friend once. It didn’t go well.”

“What, because she became a cheerleader and you became a moody guitarist?”

Emma shrugs. “Something like that.”

He rubs her arm and kisses her on the side of the head. “I just worry about you.”

“I’m fine, Greg. Everything is great.”

“Promise you’ll come over to Gram’s if it ever isn’t?”

Emma gives him a hesitant grin and nods. “I promise.”

* * *

**V.**

Spring break hits just as hard as Christmas, with a heatwave replacing the blizzards.

Alyssa stands in Kaylee’s backyard in shorts and a tanktop, waiting for Shelby to give up on her argument with the umbrella over the table.

“How does this thing even _work?”_ Shelby grumbles as it snaps closed, almost taking her hand with it.

“And you’re the one who’s going to be my biggest competition in our year for valedictorian,” Alyssa says with a sigh, shaking her head.

Shelby snorts. “There isn’t a class for using broken table umbrellas.”

Alyssa smirks and hooks her thumbs in her belt loops. “Yeah, but still, your all-A’s aren’t the same as mine.”

“How’s that?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s cheating to take Spanish for a high school grade when you’re bilingual.”

Shelby flips her off lazily.

Before Alyssa can come up with a response, she hears shouting from next door. She and Shelby both look over in time to see the back door slam open as Emma is dragged out of her house, her father holding her roughly by the collar of her shirt.

Alyssa’s heart drops as Mr. Nolan practically throws Emma forward, sending her tumbling into the dirt and grass. He’s screaming at her so loudly that Alyssa can’t even understand what he’s saying, but she hears Emma’s response, choked and defiant, as clear as if she was standing right next to her.

“Yeah. Well, I don’t really care what you think, asshole.”

Mr. Nolan stares down at her for a moment, looking furious, then reaches down and grabs her by the front of her button-down and pulls her back up onto her feet.

Panic surges through Alyssa, and she looks over at Shelby, who seems stunned speechless.

The words leave Alyssa’s lips before she even realizes she’s thought of them. _“Stop it!”_

Mr. Nolan looks up and sees them, and the change in his face when he realizes he has an audience makes Alyssa go cold despite the hot sun.

He smiles broadly and drops Emma back onto the ground, casually straightening his shirt. “Good afternoon, Alyssa, Shelby! Beautiful weather despite the heat, isn’t it? I hope you’re enjoying it!” He looks down at Emma and quietly snarls something, then turns and stomps back into the house.

“Go get Kaylee,” Alyssa murmurs to Shelby before going over to the fence and climbing over it.

Emma is still on the ground, and as Alyssa gets closer, she can see that she’s shaking.

Alyssa crouches down next to her and sets a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Emma. Look at me.”

She turns, and her eyes are a little glassy, like the shock is starting to settle in. “Alyssa,” she murmurs.

There’s a bruise forming around her eye and a cut underneath it, as if her glasses dug in before bending. She has blood on her lip, too, and a scrape along her jaw, and it makes Alyssa’s heart ache.

“What happened?” she whispers.

“They found out,” Emma rasps, still looking dazed. “They… They found out about… you know… me…” She pauses, her brow furrowing. “He threw me out.”

“I know. I saw.”

“No. Not that.” Emma shakes her head slowly. “He said I had to pack a bag and leave.”

“Where are you supposed to go?”

“…My Gram’s, I guess.”

“Alyssa, what the hell is going on?” Shelby demands as she and Kaylee hop over the fence and join them.

Emma’s not looking at her anymore, staring off at nothing as reality sinks in.

Alyssa looks up at Shelby and Kaylee, pleading. “We need to get her inside to get her stuff. We need to call her grandmother.”

Kaylee is frowning, but her eyes soften when she sees the bruises on Emma’s face. “I’ll go get some ice. Shelby, can you help Alyssa?”

“Of course.”

As Kaylee goes back to her own yard, Shelby steps over to the other side of Emma. “Come on, Nolan. Up you get.”

She and Alyssa each take one of Emma’s arms and pull her up, pausing only when Emma takes in a sharp breath. Once Emma is standing, Alyssa pulls up her shirt to see a thick bruise on her side.

“Jesus,” Alyssa mutters. “Emma, we need to-”

“I just want to leave, Alyssa,” Emma whispers. “Please just let me leave.”

They hear a car start up, and Shelby walks to the front gate. “Your parents are going out, Nolan. They’re not in the house. Let’s just get your stuff and go.”

Alyssa grips Emma’s shoulder, steadying her when she lets out a soft sob and wavers on her feet. “Come on. We’ll get you out of here. It’s time to go.”

* * *

**VI.**

Emma sees Alyssa once over the summer between sophomore and junior year.

She’s walking to the food store to get bread for her grandmother when Alyssa walks out of the local ice cream shop with a milkshake.

“Oh. Hey, Greene.”

“Hi, Nolan.” Alyssa pauses and glances down at the milkshake. “Don’t tell my mother I’m drinking this.”

Emma snorts. “God forbid you enjoy something.”

She swears she sees Alyssa glance down at her lips as she says, “Everything good is forbidden. Isn’t that how it always works?”

“I… suppose so.”

“That’s life, I guess.” Alyssa winks at her and continues walking, leaving Emma standing on the sidewalk.

Emma pauses, confused, before mumbling, “What the fuck just happened?”

* * *

**VII.**

The school decides to keep the same locker assignments year after year, which is fine by Alyssa. Emma is relatively neat and keeps her things to her own space, and she’s nice to talk to when they bump into each other.

It does, however, have its issues.

The slurs spray-painted onto the red metal hit Alyssa deep in that hidden part of her heart, the part that she won’t let out, even though she knows they aren’t directed at her.

“I’m sorry,” Emma says through gritted teeth, standing next to her with trembling fists. “I’m so sorry, Greene. This is my-”

“Don’t you _dare_ say that this is your fault, Nolan.”

“Hey, freak, do you like the painting?” One of the football boys, Colton, walks up to them with a sneer. “Sorry to do it to you too, Alyssa, but somebody had to take one for the benefit of all.”

“Yeah, because this is a _real_ benefit,” Alyssa says dryly.

Colton narrows his eyes at her. “Better be careful. She might infect you.”

Alyssa feels like she’s going to be sick, but before she can answer, she feels Emma move next to her.

“If you say anything like that to her again, dickhead, you’ll regret it.”

Colton snorts and takes a few steps towards Emma. “Aw, defending the girl you’ve been staring at during all the football games? How sweet.”

Alyssa glances over and sees Emma’s jaw tense. “It’s not her fault she has to share a locker with me,” Emma murmurs. “It is, however, entirely your fault that you’re a brainless waste of air. What’s the rumor going around? You’ve never once actually satisfied a girlfriend? If anybody’s going to convince a girl to try getting pleasure from another girl, you’re doing well enough all on your own.”

Colton stares at her for a long moment as Alyssa covers her mouth to hide her laugh.

The laugh vanishes as Colton grabs Emma by her shirt, slamming her up against the lockers. Colton’s first punch lands just below Emma’s ribs, hard enough to knock the air out of her, but she manages to get in a punch of her own straight to Colton’s face.

_“Jesus,_ stop it, both of you!” Alyssa tries to get in between them, but Colton is in a rage and Emma is scrappier than she looks, apparently, because she’s in a fight with a football player and she’s the less bloody of the two.

_“That is enough!”_

Hawkins enters the hallway and pulls Colton and Emma apart. He glares at both of them and says, “Fighting? In the middle of the hall? I expected much more from you, Miss Nolan.” He rolls his eyes. “I expected exactly this from Mr. Trace.”

“I-It wasn’t her fault, Mr. Hawkins,” Alyssa says quietly, looking away as his gaze shifts to her.

“Shut the hell up, Greene,” Colton snarls.

Hawkins’ eyes glance briefly over at the vandalized locker, and his eyes narrow slightly. “It’s alright, Alyssa. I have things handled here. Just go to class.”

Alyssa stares at Emma for a moment, worried, then walks away.

+++

Emma walks out of school a while after the day has ended with her hands in her pockets and her head bowed.

“Are you okay?”

She looks up at the sound of Alyssa’s voice, and she’s not sure what to think when she falls into step beside her as they walk around to the bike racks at the back of the school.

“I’m fine. I got a _lot_ of detention, but Hawkins didn’t suspend me because I didn’t throw the first punch and, well, the locker thing was pretty clearly provocation.”

“You didn’t need to do that,” Alyssa says softly. “Stand up for me.”

“I’m why you’re even involved in this shit. The least I can do is try to keep you as far out of it as I can.”

Alyssa rubs her back, and Emma tries not to blush at the contact. “You don’t deserve the shit either. You know that, right?”

“I dunno,” Emma murmurs. “Maybe I do. What if they’re right, Alyssa, I mean-”

“They’re _not_ right, Emma,” Alyssa insists, and there’s a desperate anger in her voice that catches Emma by surprise. “They can’t be right, okay? They’re _not.”_

Emma’s brow furrows as she stops walking, a small spark in the back of her mind like she _should_ be getting something but she _isn’t._ “Alyssa, it’s alright.”

“No. It’s not.”

She sounds like she’s about to cry, and Emma grabs her by the arm before she can walk away. “Alyssa,” she says gently. “Hold on. What’s wrong?”

Alyssa stands there for a moment, tears in her eyes, looking scared and confused.

Emma frowns. “Look, you can-”

Her words are cut off as Alyssa suddenly grabs her and kisses her full on the mouth.

“I-I’m sorry,” Alyssa stammers, backing away with fear overtaking every other emotion on her face. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

She turns and runs, not even taking her bike off of the rack.

Emma just stands there, stunned into silence.

* * *

**IIX.**

Her feelings are too confusing and complicated for her to understand.

She can’t be gay. She _can’t_ be.

But she knows that she is.

She knows she is, because she’s never felt even the smallest shred of interest in a boy, but Emma Nolan…

Alyssa can’t pinpoint the exact moment it happened. She just. Started falling for Emma Nolan.

She thinks she knows when the dial clicked in her brain, over from ‘casual attraction’ to ‘actual interest’.

It was nothing, really, in the grand scheme of things. A chocolate bar left on top of her books on her shelf, with a note telling her to have fun for once, that it was their secret.

Just one brief interaction that wasn’t even face to face.

And here she was, falling for Emma Nolan.

Alyssa groans and lies back on her bed, covering her face with her hands.

“Oh, God, I kissed her,” she whispers. “I _kissed_ her.”

She knew there was no way to take it back.

* * *

**IX.**

Emma waits for Alyssa to talk to her. She waits, and waits, and waits, and all she gets is avoidance. She can understand it. Truly, she might be the only person in their school who _can_ truly understand it.

But frustration overtakes her eventually.

When she gets an opportunity, after a cheer practice, she grabs Alyssa by the arm and pulls her into the concession stand building near the football field.

“What are you doing?” Alyssa asks, her voice a low hiss. She pauses and looks around. “How did you even get in here?”

“Greg works here during the games; I stole the keys from his room. I’ll put them back before he notices.” Emma waves a hand dismissively. “That doesn’t matter right now. We need to talk eventually, Greene.” She folds her arms across her chest and leans against one of the brick wall. “You know me well enough to know that I’m not going to tell anyone… whatever that was. But I’d really like to have at least some idea, just for myself?”

There’s a cycle of emotions on Alyssa’s face, panic and denial and just a tiny bit of hope.

“I-I don’t know,” Alyssa stammers. Her voice wavers, and she looks away. “I have no idea why I did that.”

“…None?”

Alyssa visibly swallows.

“Look, Greene, I’m not trying to push anything on you, okay? We all do things in panics, or when we’re frustrated. I just… I’m confused.”

“So am I,” Alyssa whispers, soft enough that Emma almost doesn’t hear her. “God, I’ve been so confused for so long.”

Emma takes a few steps forward. “What about?”

Alyssa’s gaze lifts, and Emma’s taken aback by the emotion in it. “…You.”

“Me?” Emma blinks. “What did I do?”

“I don’t know.” Alyssa laughs. “That’s the thing. I don’t know. I know I was… d-different. Before I met you, Nolan. But now, I…”

Emma swallows, her heartbeat going rapid. “Greene, what are you saying?”

“I’m… oh, _screw it.”_ Alyssa closes the gap between them, putting her hands on Emma’s shoulders and pulling her into another kiss.

Emma’s mind goes blank. She freezes, Alyssa’s lips on hers, until they separate and she can see the guilty, wild look in Alyssa’s eyes.

“I-I’m sorry,” she stammers. “I’m sorry. I just. I can’t. I don’t. I’m not. I don’t know what…”

“Alyssa,” Emma says, low and gentle.

“What?”

Emma reaches up and sets her palm against Alyssa’s cheek, softly stroking her thumb against her skin. Alyssa’s eyes flutter closed at the touch, and she lets out a quiet, strained sigh.

“You don’t need to apologize to me.”

Alyssa’s eyes open again, and there’s a hopeful heat in them that makes Emma shudder. “I like you, Emma,” she admits.

“I like you, too. And now that I’m starting to get over the initial shock of you liking me back, can I kiss you properly?”

Alyssa laughs, and it’s a sound that, to Emma, sounds like she’s releasing months – if not years – of pent up stress. “I really hope you do.”

She’s not sure which of them moves first, but the next moment that Emma breathes is a gasp in the middle of kissing Alyssa Greene.

She intended for it to be a regular first real kiss, something slow and a little awkward and gentle.

Instead, her hands are tangled in Alyssa’s hair, Alyssa’s fingers are gripping at her back, their tongues are already memorizing every inch of each other’s mouth, and if they take one more step towards the door Emma is fairly certain she might mindlessly pin Alyssa against it with her hips.

They take one more step towards the door.

“Oh, God,” Alyssa whimpers as she breaks away to gasp for air.

Emma rests her hands against the door on either side of Alyssa’s head. “Jesus,” she mumbles. “Fuck. I’m sorry; my brain shut down.”

She has half a mind to pull away, but Alyssa’s hands are clenched firmly on two of her belt loops, holding her in place.

“I need to go. Or my mom will start wondering why I’m not home from practice yet,” Alyssa says, still breathless.

“Okay.”

“Five minutes?”

Emma laughs. “Absolutely.”

* * *

**X.**

Alyssa opens her textbook to do her pre-calculus homework while her mother is at work and finds a small note tucked into the page where her homework starts.

_‘What do you want us to be? No pressure on any answer. We don’t have to be anything if you don’t want it, Alyssa Greene.’_

Scrawled at the bottom is a phone number, and Alyssa realizes immediately whose it is.

She picks up her cellphone and puts the number in, under ‘E’.

Her mother hasn’t liked Emma Nolan since the day her parents threw her out, and, even though Mrs. Greene has never gone through Alyssa’s phone – yet – she has no interest in tempting fate.

Then, on impulse, she taps on the new contact and puts the phone up to her ear.

_“Hello?”_

“Uh… Hi. Emma?”

_“Alyssa?”_

God help her, Emma actually sounds _surprised._

“Yeah. I got your note.”

_“O-Oh. Right. Well, I knew you’d be doing the pre-calc too, so I just… took a gamble, I guess.”_

Alyssa hesitates, taking in a slow breath. “Emma. I’m… I’m gay.”

There’s a pause on the other end of the line. _“Well. I was sort of hoping that you at least weren’t straight.”_

Alyssa laughs, strained and stressed.

Emma’s voice goes soft, and it makes Alyssa’s heart skip. _“That’s the first time you’ve said it, isn’t it?”_

“Yes,” Alyssa whispers. “Yes, it is.”

_“How does it feel?”_

“Scary. Good. Like the biggest relief I’ve ever felt.”

_“It’s funny like that.”_ Emma takes in a quiet, audible breath. _“I’m glad you were able to tell me. I know how big of a deal that is, Alyssa.”_

“Of course I would tell you,” Alyssa murmurs. “I… I want you, Emma. I don’t know how to do it. I-I’m not… I can’t actually… come out. I can’t tell my mother. I-I don’t… It’s not that…”

_“Alyssa. It’s okay. I understand, believe me.”_

“But I still…” Alyssa pinches the bridge of her nose and closes her eyes. “God, Emma, I still want you. I just don’t know how to have you.”

_“We could… We could hide it?”_

“Hide it how?”

_“Like… meeting in that annex above the library at lunch sometimes? You could maybe tell your mom you were going out with Shelby and Kaylee a few times and we could go somewhere to talk and just be together for a while. We could sneak under the bleachers for a few minutes after your practices. Or like maybe you could do your homework over here? My grandmother won’t mind, and you know we could swear Greg to secrecy. We don’t even have to tell him why you’re really coming over.”_

Alyssa clutches her phone tightly, pressing it closer against her ear. “Do you really think that could work?”

_“I think it would be worth trying. Do you?”_

“I think I’d be willing to try anything for that chance.”

Emma laughs softly. _“Alright then, Alyssa. Let’s do this.”_

“Does it mean…” Alyssa clears her throat awkwardly. “Never mind.”

_“What is it? It’s okay.”_

“Would that make you my…” Her voice drops to a hoarse squeak. “…my girlfriend?”

There’s so much affection in Emma’s tone that it makes Alyssa’s heart ache. _“Yes, Alyssa. If that’s what you want us to be, that would make us girlfriends.”_

“Oh,” Alyssa whispers. “Well. That’s… That’s good. Uhm. I-I’d like that a lot.”

_“So would I.”_

“Good.” Alyssa lets out a laugh and rests her head in her free hand. “Oh, God. I’ve never wanted something like this before. I don’t know how to do it.”

_“That’s alright. All we need to be is us.”_

“I think that will be easy,” Alyssa replies, staring at the note in front of her and smiling. “All you have to be is you.”

* * *

**XI.**

Above the library, forgotten by most of the student body, is a small study room for groups doing student projects that require them to talk and make noise that would otherwise disrupt the library’s required silence.

Alyssa sneaks up to the spot at lunch, like she has at least twice a week for so many weeks she has lost count.

(Three weeks exactly as of yesterday if going by the day Emma pulled her into the concession stand after a cheer practice, but really, seriously, who was keeping count.)

Emma is sitting on the floor instead of a chair, her brow furrowed cutely, frowning at her chemistry textbook.

“If I make a joke about us having good chemistry, will it make that adorable little line between your eyes go away?”

Emma laughs and looks up, and Alyssa decides that the way her hazel eyes sparkle a little when she looks at her is far better anyway. “Hi. Sorry. I wasn’t sure if you were coming today, so I was trying to do some homework.”

“Yeah, it took a minute to get away. Shelby was rambling about some new flip Kaylee figured out how to do.”

“Hm.” Emma shakes her head. “Whatever. What’s today? Debate, right?”

“Yeah.” Alyssa sits down next to her. “I don’t want to go. I want to stay here.”

“I think someone would notice eventually, babe.”

“No fair.” Alyssa presses a kiss to the underside of Emma’s jaw. “I’d have more fun with you than I do there.”

Emma shivers and leans her head back, tossing her textbook aside. “You make great arguments.”

“That’s why I’m in debate.” Alyssa climbs into Emma’s lap and trails a line of gentle kisses down her neck.

A soft groan slips from Emma’s throat. “Alyssa,” she whispers. “How long do we have?”

“Half hour, give or take,” she mumbles.

“Can I kiss you?”

Alyssa laughs against Emma’s skin. “The whole time?”

“I would be _such_ a burden, but I think I would survive.”

“Well, if you _insist_.” Alyssa pulls back for a moment, grinning at the dazed adoration in Emma’s eyes, then tugs her in to kiss her hard on the mouth.

* * *

**XII.**

They ride out to an old abandoned boat launch on the lake, rarely visited in the middle of the week in January.

Emma sits down in the dying grass, looking out at the water. She smiles when Alyssa sits next to her and threads their hands together.

“It’s peaceful back here,” Alyssa murmurs. “I think sometimes I forget what peaceful is. Everything is always _moving._ Cheer, debate, homework, student council… It’s a mess.”

Emma leans over and presses a kiss to Alyssa’s temple. “Any time things get busy, you can text me. You know that, right? Even if I can’t help, you can just talk to me.”

“Thank you.” Alyssa rests her fingers under Emma’s chin and kisses her slowly. “You do make me feel better. No matter how bad I’m feeling.”

“You do the same for me.”

Alyssa scoffs out a laugh. “Hardly. I wish I could do more. I hate the way they treat you. Even Kaylee and Shelby… They know what happened when your parents found out, and they still…”

“It’s hard to unlearn shit. It’s not an excuse, but it’s still hard.”

“Regardless. I’m so sorry that I’m so useless.”

Emma chuckles quietly and kisses her. “You’re never useless, Alyssa. I would never expect you to do something that would out you just to protect me. I’ve been handling it long enough.”

Alyssa rests her head against Emma’s. “It just doesn’t seem fair. We’re both like this, and you’re the only one who has to pay for it.”

“Hey.” Emma takes Alyssa’s face in her hands. “Don’t you remember what you told me once? There isn’t anything to fix here, ‘Lys. We’re _us._ There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, and there’s absolutely nothing that we deserve to pay for. I promise you, baby.”

“Coming from you, I think I actually believe that.”

“Good. You should.”

Alyssa turns a bit and leans back, resting against Emma and letting her wrap her arms around her. They watch the gentle motion of the lake, coats pulled tight around each of them in the cold afternoon air.

“Emma?” Alyssa says in a whisper.

“Yeah?”

“I… I think I lo-” She falters, embarrassed, and changes course. “I really, _really_ like you.”

Emma’s laugh comes as a soft breath against her ear, and she kisses her cheek, gentle and understanding. “I think I really, really like you, too.”

* * *

**XIII.**

All Alyssa really knows is that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to watch the Oscars again.

They’re boring anyway, and neither she nor Emma is really paying attention, so it’s a natural decision to forget the program entirely and make out on the couch in Emma’s house.

She made up an excuse to her mother, something that allows her to stay out late enough without suspicion, she _might_ have used the ‘I’ve never let my grades slip’ card.

Because the thing is, Betsy and Greg are away visiting a college, and she and Emma can spend time alone without fear of being caught.

…That was, at least, the idea.

Emma pushes forward, just a little, and Alyssa lies down on the couch, bringing Emma with her. It’s a slow kiss, deep and long and intimate, and it’s not the type of heat they’re really used to, but it’s _real._

Alyssa’s fingers toy with the hem of Emma’s t-shirt, hesitant and curious, and she tugs a bit in question. “Emma,” she whispers. “I want to take this off of you. I want to see more of you.”

Emma blinks at her and nods. “Okay,” she says, a little hoarse. She sits back on her heels and waits, patient, for Alyssa to confirm that this is what she really wants to do.

There’s hardly any pause before Alyssa is sitting up too, gripping Emma’s shirt and pulling it over her head.

“Jesus,” Alyssa murmurs.

“Is-” Whatever the question is breaks off in a choke in Emma’s throat as Alyssa leans down and trails open-mouthed kisses down her collarbone. _“Fuck,_ Alyssa.” She leans back until she’s the one lying down, her hand going to Alyssa’s hair. “I-I want…” She gaps softly as Alyssa’s lips dare lower. “Oh, _God.”_

Alyssa moves down even lower, pressing a kiss to Emma’s stomach. “What do you want?” she murmurs against Emma’s skin.

“Can I see you, too?”

“Of course you can.” Alyssa pulls off her sweater and drops it onto the floor next to Emma’s shirt.

Emma stares at her, jaw slack, her eyes unsure of where exactly to look first. Her hands decide to skim lightly up Alyssa’s sides, from her hips to the edge of her bra.

Alyssa shudders and closes her eyes. “Emma,” she whispers.

There’s a tension in the room, one Emma isn’t used to, and she tries to ease it a bit by saying, “Your abs are even better up close, if you were wondering.”

Alyssa pauses and takes in a slow breath. “That’s good to know,” she murmurs.

Emma cups Alyssa’s face and pulls her down to kiss her again.

The volume is on the television and they’re both blocking it out and their focus is on each other and they don’t hear the front door opening.

“Holy _shit!”_

“Gregory, _language_… oh my.”

Alyssa lets out a sharp yelp and falls off of the couch, almost hitting her head on the table on the way down. She scrambles for a shirt and grabs Emma’s, covering herself with it as she shoots a panicked look at her girlfriend.

Emma is still lying on the couch, still half-dressed, staring blankly at her cousin and her grandmother. “I-I… I thought you said… you’d be back tomorrow,” she stammers.

“The one place was lame so we left early.” Greg points slowly at Alyssa. “Uhm. Is. Are. What’s… _Why is Alyssa Greene half-naked in the living room?”_

Alyssa feels her face go hot, and she tries to come up with some sort of answer, but before she can Betsy smacks Greg’s arm.

“Go put your things away and stop staring.”

He blinks for a moment longer before bolting up the stairs with his bag.

Emma, seemingly coming back to her senses, sits up slowly. “Gram,” she whispers. “I can explain.”

Betsy takes a few steps into the living room and picks up the remote, turning the television off. She clasps her hands in front of her, a neutral expression on her face. “I don’t think there’s much to explain, Emma. I saw what I saw.”

Every fear that’s been running rampant through Alyssa spikes to the front at once, and she tugs Emma’s shirt over her head before stumbling to her feet. “Please,” she begs. “Please, Mrs. Nolan, _please._ I-I… you… you can’t… I…” Her breathing picks up, it’s too much, it’s too soon, and suddenly Emma is on her feet and holding her.

“Hey. Hey, baby, it’s okay. It’s _alright._” Emma’s hands run up and down her back, soothing. “You’re okay.”

They just stand there, quiet, until Alyssa feels her breathing return to normal. She buries her face against Emma’s throat and sobs out, “I’m not ready.”

“You don’t need to be.” Emma cups her face in her hands and lets their eyes meet. “Baby, I promise, you don’t need to be.”

Betsy clears her throat softly. “Emma, could you go put on a shirt?”

“Oh, I-I…” Alyssa blushes more. “I’m sorry, I took hers, I’ll-”

She holds up a hand. “It’s fine, dear. Emma has plenty of t-shirts. Emma, go change.”

Emma pauses just a moment, giving Alyssa a comforting squeeze of the hand, then she jogs up the stairs.

“So it’s you, then.”

Alyssa looks up at Betsy, her hands fidgeting nervously with the bottom of Emma’s shirt. “What?”

Betsy gives her a warm smile. “Emma has been different these past few months. Happier. It’s because of you, isn’t it?”

“I-I… I would like to hope so, ma’am.”

“Why are you keeping it a secret?”

Alyssa swallows, and her voice drops to a hoarse whisper. “No one but Emma knows I’m gay.”

Her heart is pounding, fear is starting to close off her throat, and Betsy is silently studying her. She feels like she’s about to pass out when Betsy reaches out and sets a hand on her shoulder.

“No one inside this house is going to say anything until you’re ready. I promise you.”

Alyssa surges forward and hugs her, tears falling. “Thank you,” she whimpers. “Thank you.”

“You never need to thank me for that,” Betsy says gently, patting her on the back. “Just don’t ever let me catch you and my granddaughter on my couch kissing without your clothes on again.”

Alyssa pulls out of the hug and gives her a sheepish smile. “Yes, ma’am.”

* * *

**XIV.**

The July heat is driving Emma insane, for two completely separate reasons – the oppressive humidity that chokes her and makes her hair curl even more, and the short clothes her girlfriend is wearing whenever she can get out of the house in them without her mother noticing.

“Not to sound like one of the dumbasses we go to school with,” she says as Alyssa climbs into the passenger seat of her truck in shorts and a form-fitting t-shirt that’s showing off just a little bit of her stomach, “but _damn.”_

Alyssa giggles and kisses her, quick and chaste. “You’re looking good, too. The short-sleeved button-down? Yes please.”

Emma grins at her and starts the truck down the thin road away from Alyssa’s part of town. “What’s the cover story for today?”

“Training session to keep in shape for cheer.”

“Oh, does that mean you’ll be in your uniform?” Emma asks mildly, a small smirk on her face. She pauses and blushes. “Sorry. That just slipped out.”

Alyssa leans over and kisses her cheek. “Don’t be sorry. The only time I’ve ever been comfortable with people really looking at me in that uniform is when it’s been you.”

“If you want, I can look even more. I mean, it’ll be a true sacrifice, but I would do that for you.”

Alyssa laughs, loud and carefree, and when she leans back in her seat she says, “God, I love you.”

Emma slams on the brakes as her brain blanks out. She looks over at Alyssa, who is blushing and trying not to look at her. “I… What did you just say?”

Alyssa swallows and meets her gaze slowly, and Emma is struck by the emotion in her eyes. “I love you, Emma Nolan.”

Emma lifts Alyssa’s hand and presses a soft kiss to the palm. “I love you, too, Alyssa Greene.”

* * *

**XV.**

As Betsy and Greg pack up Betsy’s little old Nissan for the journey to take Greg to college, Greg loops his arm around Emma’s shoulders and pulls her aside.

“Hey. Are you going to be okay?”

Emma shrugs. “Of course. You’re not really much use anyway, right?”

He snorts and messes up her hair with his hand. “You’re an asshole.”

“I know.”

Greg sets his hands on Emma’s shoulders. “No matter what anybody says, you are amazing just the way you are, okay? You gotta promise me that you’ll remember that.”

“Yeah, I will.” Emma hooks her thumbs in her belt loops. “You’re just going to college, not moving to another country, you know. I’m going to see you in like three months, if not sooner.”

“I know. I just worry about you.”

Emma suddenly steps forward and hugs him, and she feels him pause briefly in confusion before his arms go around her and he rests his chin on top of her head.

“Take care of yourself,” she murmurs.

“I will if you will.”

“So, no promises?”

He laughs and squeezes her tighter. “It’s the Nolan way.”

+++

“So are Greg and your grandmother actually gone this time, or are they going to be a fun surprise while I’m in my bra again?” Alyssa jokes as Emma lets her in the house.

Emma laughs. “They’re actually gone this time. They’re moving Greg in and then they’re going to spend a few days getting to know the area.”

“Good.” Alyssa pushes Emma up against the door and kisses her. “Want me to take my shirt off again, then?”

She watches a slow hunger grow in Emma’s eyes until she nods and mumbles, “Y-Yeah. That’d be okay.”

“Just okay?” Alyssa teases.

“Uhm. I’m sorry, my brain can only think of you without a shirt on right now.”

Alyssa giggles and grabs Emma’s hand. “That’s fine. Let’s go to your room and make out. I promised I wouldn’t get you shirtless on your grandmother’s couch again.”

Emma snorts. “Of course that’s a promise you made.”

+++

It’s not something they planned.

The intention of their time together while Betsy and Greg are gone has always been just to be able to spend a few hours alone in peace, to be able to kiss like their peers are able to in public, to enjoy each other’s company.

It’s only when they’re lying in Emma’s bed, laughing and kissing, Emma biting a bruise just below Alyssa’s bra, that the thought actually occurs to them.

It strikes Alyssa first, as heat boils inside of her while Emma straddles her and dances kisses across her abs.

She wants _more._

She wants more, now, with Emma.

“Wait,” Alyssa whispers as Emma starts to work another bruise into her skin.

Emma is at eye level immediately. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s… Well, it’s maybe a little _too_ right.”

“What does that mean?”

“Emma, I…” Alyssa distracts herself by setting her hands on Emma’s thighs, brushing her thumbs against the soft denim of her shorts. “Please hear me when I say that if you’re not ready _we_ are not ready and I am perfectly okay with that. But I… I want you, Emma. Sexually.” She winces. “Wait. No. That was awful. I mean I want to have sex with you. No, God, that was worse, I mean-”

Emma cuts her off by kissing her. “Alyssa,” she whispers. “I want you like that, too.”

Alyssa beams, and she can feel her eyes start to water. “Yeah?”

“I’ve wanted it for a long time, but it never felt right. Until now.”

“Same,” Alyssa murmurs. She pulls Emma down into a long, slow kiss. “Can we? Now?”

Emma takes in a soft gasp and her fingers drum lightly against her ribs, and Alyssa’s eyes drift closed. “Are you… Are you _sure?_ I mean… I’m…”

She sounds anxious, and the change in her makes Alyssa open her eyes, concerned. Emma is looking away, her cheeks flushed, a small frown on her lips.

“Hey.” Alyssa sits up, putting her so close to Emma that the heat in her bubbles dangerously, but she pushes it aside to gently tuck a strand of hair behind Emma’s ear. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s _wrong,_ I just… You asking if we could do it now made things real all of a sudden. And a part of me still can’t believe that you’d ever want me like that.”

“God, do you even know what you do to me?” Alyssa kisses her, long and deep, her tongue pressing into Emma’s mouth until they both groan. “I love you, Emma. I _want_ you. You don’t need to worry about that, because I _so badly_ want you.” She rests their foreheads together. “But if you’re not comfortable, we don’t need to do this.”

Emma skims her fingers down Alyssa’s spine and makes her shudder. “I want to,” she whispers. “I want to, Alyssa.”

“Okay,” Alyssa whispers. Her hands drop to the front of Emma’s shorts. “Then I’m going to take these off of you?”

Emma gives a laugh that sounds just a little bit nervous. “You are more than welcome to.”

* * *

**XVI.**

She lets her mind wander to the memory of Emma’s fingers between her legs.

“Alyssa. Hey, _Alyssa!”_

She snaps out of it with a jolt and lowers her sunglasses, trying not to blush as she looks at Shelby. “Huh?”

“What’s going on with you? You’re like zoning out.”

Alyssa clears her throat and shifts in her chair. “Nothing. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.”

Kaylee frowns. “You were smirking and your face is all red.”

“It’s… the sun.”

Shelby takes a drink of her soda. “…Okay.”

“Wait.” Kaylee points at her and squints. “You had sex.”

Shelby chokes on her soda. Alyssa chokes on thin air.

_“What?”_ Alyssa’s voice goes into a high-pitched squeak that she knows is far from convincing. She clears her throat to try to lower it. “Why would you… What the hell makes you think _that?”_

“It’s a general aura.” Kaylee shrugs. “I just know.”

“I-I… you…” Alyssa scoffs loudly and pushes her sunglasses back up. “Who would I even be having sex with, Kaylee? Come on. You’re being ridiculous.”

“That is true,” Shelby says mildly as she sets her drink down. “Greg’s at college.”

Alyssa chokes again. “I’m sorry. _What?_ What does Greg have to do with this?”

“I mean, it was obvious, Alyssa,” Kaylee says. “Towards the end of last year you were going over to the Nolan house all the time and lying to your mom about it. It wasn’t that hard to figure out that you had a crush on him.”

“Shit, Kaylee, I was at the Nolan’s house because I was working on that partnered history assignment I had with Emma.”

Kaylee raises an eyebrow. “You, Alyssa Greene, took _three months_ to do one little assignment? I don’t buy that. Especially partnered with Nolan; she’s an idiot but she’s in all of our classes for a reason.”

Alyssa’s hands clench on the arm of her chair. “Emma’s not an idiot.”

“Okay. Whatever.” Kaylee shrugs and leans back. “You’re not going to change the subject. You definitely hooked up with _somebody.”_

Alyssa pushes to her feet. “I’m getting another drink,” she snarls, grabbing her empty glass and hurrying for Shelby’s back door. “Maybe when I come back you’ll have gotten yourself some glasses.”

+++

Shelby knows that something is wrong.

She’s known Alyssa for almost their whole lives – Kaylee is the only one she’s known longer – and she can tell when something is bothering her.

Something’s been bothering her for a while, but it feels like it’s starting to creep up on all of them.

Shelby comes up with an excuse for Kaylee, that she needs another drink as well, and follows Alyssa into the house.

She finds her in the kitchen, leaning on the counter with her head in her hands, trying to catch her breath.

“Hey,” Shelby says softly. “Are you okay?”

Alyssa nods rapidly and sniffs, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand before straightening and turning to her with a strained smile. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“You don’t really look fine, Alyssa.” Shelby leans against the doorway. “Look, I… You know that Kaylee’s just messing around with you, right?”

“When are you going to stop cleaning up for her?” Alyssa asks, her voice soft.

There’s an uncomfortable knot in the back of Shelby’s throat, so she just shrugs and looks away.

“I’m not seeing _Greg Nolan,_ Shelby. Jesus. I’m not dating any boy at all, so I’d really appreciate it if you guys wouldn’t start taking guesses, because that’s going to make school miserable. You know that.”

Shelby gives a light scoff. “What, you mean you don’t want to become the latest cheer squad betting pool?”

Alyssa visibly swallows, and there’s a pain in her eyes that Shelby isn’t expecting. “Shelby,” she whispers. “Please.”

“We won’t say anything, okay? I’ll talk to Kaylee.” Shelby walks into the kitchen and pulls Alyssa into a hug. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Better than I’ve been in a long time.” There’s a faint buzz from Alyssa’s phone, and she pulls out of the hug to look down at it. She grins and mumbles, “I should go back outside.”

Shelby catches the contact name on the message – ‘E’ – but that’s all she notices before Alyssa is out of the room.

She stands in the kitchen, her brain spiraling as it puts pieces together.

_Towards the end of last year you were going over to the Nolan house all the time and lying to your mom about it._

_Emma’s not an idiot._

_I’m not dating any boy at all._

“Holy shit,” Shelby whispers. She runs her hand through her hair. “Oh, holy shit.”

Greg really isn’t the Nolan that Alyssa’s been interested in.

* * *

**XVII.**

Emma lies in the annex with her head in Alyssa’s lap, reading _Oedipus Rex_ for their English class.

“I’m bored,” she mutters.

“Dude unintentionally kills his father and marries his mother and that’s boring?”

“I don’t like being told to read things.”

Alyssa sets her physics textbook down on Emma’s head. “Here. Now you can’t read it.”

Emma makes a grumpy noise. “Thanks I think?”

Alyssa laughs and moves her book, leaning down to press a kiss to Emma’s lips. She brushes her thumb against Emma’s cheek for a moment. “Hey,” she murmurs. “Can we talk about something?”

“Yeah, of course.” Emma sits up and sets her book down. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s perfect.” Alyssa rests her forehead against Emma’s. “It’s _perfect._ And that’s… that’s the thing. This is perfect, Emma, and I’m so tired of people not knowing how much I love you. I just… I don’t know _how._ I don’t know what to do.”

“We’ll figure something out.” Emma kisses her softly. “You know you don’t have to do anything for me, right? I’ll love you whether we can be public or not.”

“I know you will. I want to do this for both of us, Em. I want to do this for _me.”_

“What if…” Emma pauses for a moment, a glint of realization forming in her eyes. She looks away, biting her lip in thought.

“What? What is it?” Alyssa pokes her in the side. “Don’t go all quiet on me, Nolan.”

“I just was thinking. If you wanted to wait a bit longer, until the end of the school year. What about prom?”

Alyssa blinks. “Prom?”

“What if we went together? Danced like normal kids, a normal couple? People wouldn’t be able to start shit without getting thrown out of their own prom, and they’d have a whole weekend to get over it. And we’d be able to be us for real.” Emma grins. “Seeing you in a dress wouldn’t be that bad, either.”

“I…” Alyssa blinks again as the words process. “Oh my God. We totally could. Though… the rules say that if you’re bringing a date it has to be the opposite sex.”

Emma shrugs. “So I’ll ask them if they can change the rules. I’ll just leave your name out of it until we get more information.”

“You’d do that?”

“I’d do anything for you,” Emma says softly.

Alyssa grins, her eyes getting watery. “So. I guess you just asked me to prom, Emma Nolan.”

“No. That’s what this is.” Emma shifts until she’s on her knees, and she takes Alyssa’s face in her hands. “I love you, Alyssa Greene,” she whispers. “Will you go to prom with me?”

Alyssa giggles and pulls her forward, kissing her hard on the mouth. “Yes. I want that more than anything else in the world.”

* * *

**XIIX.**

There’s a fight in the hallway right before the first bell. Shelby stands at her locker, watching as Emma punches one of the juniors from the track team.

“Ugh, again?” Kaylee appears at her shoulder and leans against her. “What’s she causing a commotion for this time?”

Shelby’s jaw tightens. “There was more stuff on her and Alyssa’s locker.” She glances over at Kaylee. “She was trying _not_ to fight.”

“Didn’t do a very good job.”

“Yeah. I suppose not.” Shelby winces as Emma takes a hard punch to the jaw and hits one of the lockers. “I feel like someone should stop this.”

“There’s no reason you’d need to get involved. A teacher will break it up.”

“Sure,” Shelby says, glancing down the hallway towards the locker rooms, where the football coach can clearly see what’s going on and isn’t doing anything. “They definitely will.” She winces again as Emma takes another punch. “Kaylee, I don’t want to watch this anymore,” she says softly.

Kaylee is quiet for a moment, still leaning on Shelby’s shoulder. Her hand goes to Shelby’s hip, and she tugs on one of her belt loops. “Come on,” she murmurs. “Let’s get to class.”

+++

Alyssa is leaning against the passenger door of the truck when Emma walks out of school.

“Hi,” Emma says sheepishly.

“You know,” Alyssa says, reaching up and gently touching the spot next to the bruise forming on Emma’s cheek, “if you keep getting detention, they’re not going to _let_ you go to prom.”

“It’s not my fault,” Emma protests.

“Of course not. You’re dutifully defending my honor. I appreciate it very much.”

Emma rolls her eyes and walks around to the driver’s seat. “The sarcasm is noted.”

Alyssa opens the passenger door and leans against the frame. “Em. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

Emma glances around to double-check the empty parking lot, then reaches over and gently strokes Alyssa’s cheek. “It’ll be fine. I promise. We have a plan, and then we’ll be out of this school and we won’t need to deal with any of them anymore.”

Alyssa closes her eyes and briefly leans into Emma’s touch before kissing her palm. “I love you,” she murmurs.

“I love you, too.”

* * *

**XIX.**

Alyssa watches, horrified, as her mother paces in their living room on a rant.

“Where does that girl think she _is?”_ Mrs. Greene demands, wringing her hands in front of her. “Some hippie commune in San Francisco? This is _Edgewater, Indiana._ We have _beliefs_, we have _rules,_ we have _systems.”_

“I-I think Emma just… wants to go to prom,” Alyssa stammers.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Mrs. Greene says with a dismissive wave of her hand. “But bringing a _date?_ Another girl? She can’t just… No. No, the PTA put a stop to this, and there’s no changing it. We aren’t going to back down.”

Alyssa feels a tightness in her chest. “Mom, isn’t that a little harsh?”

“Of course not, Alyssa. We’re doing what’s best for our community. It will be what’s best for the girl and whoever she’s trying to drag down with her, too.” Mrs. Greene answers her cellphone and walks out of the room.

Alyssa closes her eyes and bows her head. “Yeah,” she whispers. “That’s what I figured.”

* * *

**XX.**

Emma sees the car pull down the driveway of her grandmother’s house.

She considers running.

She’s not sure why she doesn’t.

Both of her parents look furious when they get out of the car, but it’s her father who walks up the steps of the porch, grabs her by the lapels of her jacket, and slams her against the siding of the house.

“You were already _enough_ of an embarrassment,” he snarls. “Did you have to _completely_ tarnish the family name? It was bad enough that you’re the way you are, and now you’re turning yourself into some sort of spectacle!”

Emma swallows, trying not to let herself shake. “I-I… I just want to go to prom. Like everybody else.”

Her father glares down at her. “People like you aren’t _like_ everybody else. Get in the car.”

“No,” Emma whispers.

His voice drops to dangerous levels. “Excuse me?”

She tries not to let her own voice quiver. “I said no.”

His grip on her jacket tightens. “If you don’t, I’ll _make_ you. Now get in the car, you _useless-”_

“Patrick!”

Mr. Nolan’s attention turns to his mother, standing in the doorway of her house.

Betsy glares at him, pure rage in her eyes. “Put the girl down. _Now!”_

Mr. Nolan releases Emma’s jacket, and she slumps against the side of the house, trembling. “Mother. I’m just here for my child.”

“You don’t have a right to _call_ her your child.” Betsy steps out onto the porch. “I heard you had left.”

“We’re leaving now. We want to live somewhere where no one knows about the…” He glares at Emma. _“…misguided_ attempts to get attention our daughter has done.”

Betsy snorts. “If that’s what you think this is, then your head is so far up your own ass it’s back to where it’s supposed to be.” She points at the car. “Just leave, Patrick. If you want a different environment, go and get one. But Emma is not going with you.”

“I can take her if I want to. She’s not eighteen.”

Betsy walks over to her son, staring up at him with hard eyes. “But you’re not going to.”

They stare at each other for a long, tense moment.

Without even giving Emma another glance, Mr. Nolan turns and walks off of the porch. “Come on,” he says to his wife. “She’s not worth it.”

Mrs. Nolan gives Emma a cold, dismissive look, then gets in the car.

Emma stands, shakily, as the car drives off. Betsy sets a hand on her shoulder. “Honey,” she whispers. “Are you okay?”

“I-I… I don’t know,” Emma admits.

“That’s okay.” Betsy hugs her. “Come here, honey. That’s okay.”

* * *

**XXI.**

The gym is empty when Shelby walks in and takes a seat on the bleachers.

She wants a prom. She just wants a stupid prom with her boyfriend and her friends.

A part of her wants to blame Alyssa. She feels guilty for the part of her that’s blaming Emma. There’s a voice in the back of her head, a whisper, telling her that they _are_ at fault, because _they’re _the ones who are wrong, because _they’re_ the ones who are _that._

She shivers and runs her hands over her face.

If they’re wrong, what does that make-

“Hey, Shelby!” Kevin drops onto the bleachers next to her and grins.

“Hey.” She gives him a smile she hopes doesn’t convey her anxiety. “You ready for this dumb meeting?”

“I guess so. Nick and I ran into Emma in the hallway. She said the girl she was trying to bring was new, but I didn’t think we had any new kids?”

Shelby scoffs at Emma’s attempt at deflection. “We haven’t had anybody new come to this school since Mrs. Lucas adopted that boy when we were in fifth grade, and they moved out of town two years ago.”

“Yeah. So like. Who’s she seeing, then?”

Shelby watches as Alyssa walks into the gym, her hands tightly gripping her backpack, her shoulders slumped, and her head bowed. “I’m not sure,” she murmurs.

+++

She’s already nearly hyperventilating as she bursts into the annex.

“Emma, what the _hell_ is going on?” she demands, standing in the doorway, her chest heaving as she tries to catch her breath.

Emma is pacing back and forth, her hands rubbing together anxiously as she mutters to herself.

_“Emma!”_

She looks up, startled. “Oh. Oh, God. I’m sorry, I was just… I was just trying to _think._ I’m not… I don’t know what…”

Alyssa runs her hand through her hair and bites her lip. “Jesus Christ, Em, who _are_ those people?”

“I don’t know! Mr. Hawkins says they’re like… Broadway actors? Or something? And they’re trying to help because for some reason they think _this_ will help.”

“Oh my God.” Alyssa covers her face with her hands and groans. “Oh my _God._ This is a disaster. It’s a total disaster. Why did we ever think we could do this? The whole school has gone _insane!”_

“Alyssa, hey, it’s going to be alright. The plan can still work, okay? Mr. Hawkins is talking to some attorney, apparently it’s not actually cool to throw a fit and take away an entire school event because of homophobia.”

“Emma,” Alyssa chokes out. “I don’t know if I can do this. My mom’s freaking out. It’s all so overwhelming I can’t-”

“Hey,” Emma whispers, taking a step towards her.

Alyssa shies away, flinching when she sees the hurt in Emma’s eyes. Her brain is overwhelmed, she doesn’t know what to do, she doesn’t know what to think, she doesn’t _know._

She runs her hand through her hair again, still breathing hard, and turns to leave.

“This isn’t my fault,” Emma says, and her voice is so desperate that it makes Alyssa stop in her tracks. “You know that, don’t you?” She doesn’t get closer, respecting the gap Alyssa forced between them. “Alyssa, I didn’t ask for any of this. All I want is you. If I need to wait until we’re in college, until we have jobs, until we’re _ninety_, I’ll do that.”

Alyssa turns slowly, her eyes tearing. There’s a determination on Emma’s face that she’s never seen before, a level of reckless, passionate fire that she’s only seen in bed or when Emma’s about to punch someone.

“If you still want to try, I’m going to keep fighting. We deserve to have this, Alyssa. You deserve to have this. I know it’s terrifying, but I believe that we can do this. Please, just let me try. I-I…” Emma falters a bit, bowing her head. “I just want to go to prom with you,” she whispers.

Alyssa walks forward and takes Emma’s hands, giving her a light kiss. “I want to go with you, too,” she murmurs. “I love you. I do. I love you. I’m afraid, but I do still want our plan to work. Are you sure you want to go through this?”

“I love you, Alyssa. Of course I am.”

Alyssa lets out a soft sigh and rests her forehead against Emma’s. “It might be easier to just move to a different state.”

Emma laughs. “One of those little handkerchiefs tied to a stick? Jump on a train and see where it takes us?”

“My mother would find us and kill us if I don’t graduate high school,” Alyssa says dryly.

“Mm. My grandmother would, too.” Emma cups Alyssa’s jaw in her hands and kisses her, all teeth and tongue, until Alyssa groans.

Alyssa walks Emma back until they hit the table, and she pushes Emma until she’s sitting on it.

“What are you doing?” Emma breathes as Alyssa starts unbuttoning her flannel shirt.

“If you’re going to be busy dealing with actors and whatever Mr. Hawkins is doing, we likely won’t be able to see each other a lot for a while. We have at least five minutes before we have to go downstairs. It’s enough time for me to kiss as much of you as I can get my hands on. If that’s okay?”

Emma clears her throat as Alyssa’s lips land on her collarbone. “God,” she groans. “That is more than okay.”

* * *

**XXII.**

“You okay, kiddo?”

Emma blinks and looks over at Barry, sitting in the passenger seat of her truck. “What?”

“Are you okay?” He playfully bumps his fist against her knee. “You should be excited! You’re getting a prom!”

“I am excited,” Emma says softly. “I guess a part of me just… wishes they didn’t have to be _forced_ into it.”

Barry is quiet for a moment, a silence she didn’t think was actually possible. “I can’t guarantee that that’s going to change in the next week. Or even the next year, or maybe even before you’re my age. But you’re a brave kid. Even if people like this don’t change, you’ll be okay.”

“I’m not sure if that actually makes me feel better or not,” Emma laughs.

“It didn’t really make me feel better, but it sounded good when I thought it.”

Emma laughs again and starts the truck. “Do you want food or not?”

He shudders. “I trust you to find something a lot more than I do the other idiots I’m here with.”

“That _definitely_ doesn’t make me feel better.”

* * *

**XXIII.**

Kaylee giggles as Shelby fusses with her hair, tucking it behind Kaylee’s ear and adjusting how it lies on her shoulders.

“What are you doing?” she asks, bouncing a bit.

Shelby laughs and uses her thumb to straighten the lower edge of Kaylee’s lipstick. “It’s an occasion.”

“Hopefully it’s not a monster truck rally halftime show.”

Shelby snorts.

“What kind of-”

“Hey, Kaylee!”

She turns and laughs as Nick puts on sunglasses and takes off his varsity jacket to reveal a ‘PROM: Y/N?’ t-shirt.

She’s pretty sure she hears Shelby mutter “good God”, but she just giggles and says, “You’re such an idiot.” Kaylee kisses Nick quickly. “Yes!”

Kaylee is laughing as Nick hugs her, and she can see Kevin wearing a sombrero and laughing with Shelby. The boys both run off to help one of the basketball players with a promposal, and the timing makes her turn at the exact moment that Emma sneaks underneath the bleachers.

It’s suspicious. It’s suspicious, it’s weird, and with everyone else’s attention on the goofy fun going on on the football field, Kaylee lets her nosiness get the better of her.

She walks over to the bleachers.

She can’t hear the conversation that’s going on. It’s quiet and private, the whisper of a secret, but she can see well enough.

Alyssa.

Emma takes Alyssa’s hand and brushes her thumb over the back of her palm before kissing her forehead and murmuring to her. They kiss briefly, then leave from the other side of the bleachers, one after the other, a minute or so apart.

Kaylee stands there, frozen in shock.

“Kay.”

She turns to find Shelby behind her, a bit pale.

“Did you…” Kaylee blinks. “What the fuck is…”

“We can’t tell anyone, Kaylee,” Shelby says softly. “You know what it would do to Alyssa.”

Kaylee grabs Shelby’s hand and drags her under the bleachers. “You _knew about this?”_

Shelby shrugs and looks away. “Yeah. Only for a little bit.”

“How long is a little bit?”

“I… figured it out at the end of summer break.”

Kaylee gapes at her. “What the _fuck?_ Why didn’t you tell me?”

She watches the tension tighten in Shelby’s jaw. “It’s not my secret to tell, Kaylee.”

“What…” Kaylee closes her eyes and thinks for a second. “What do we do? She’s going to show up with Emma, and then it’s over for her. Everyone will know. If we stop this now, maybe we can knock some sense into her?”

There’s a hesitation in Shelby’s eyes that Kaylee can’t identify the source of, but she nods. “Yeah,” she whispers. “I… I think I have a way that that can happen.”

* * *

**XXIV.**

It goes to hell, far worse than anything Alyssa ever imagined.

She can still hear the broken sound of Emma’s voice on the phone, the hurt and anger and betrayal. The pure desperation to just not be _alone._

All Emma needed was her, and she couldn’t do it.

Alyssa sits on the ground outside of the Elks Club, hoping that no one comes outside and asks her why she’s crying.

Emma’s truck stops in the parking lot, but she’s not the one driving it. One of the actors gets out and starts pacing, looking like he’s about to storm into the prom the same way they burst into the gym during the PTA meeting.

It takes a while before he notices Alyssa, and he seems to hesitate, just a little, before approaching her.

“So,” he says as he gets closer, and the anger in his voice is so strong that Alyssa flinches, “this is where the _normal people’s prom_ is?”

He falters when he sees that she’s crying.

“Yeah,” Alyssa whispers. “It is.”

“I…” He looks around, and Alyssa suddenly remembers his name. Barry. “I wanted to go in there and give _that woman_ a piece of my mind, but I… I don’t think I can.” He sighs and puts his hands into his pockets. “I don’t think it would help.” He scoffs and shakes his head. “Oh, what do you care. No offense, but the rest of you did this, so it’s not like-”

“It wouldn’t help,” Alyssa says. She swallows. “My mother did this, and she would never back down just because you yelled at her.”

Barry stares at her. “You’re… You’re that Greene woman’s…”

Alyssa swallows again and looks up at him. “Can you do something for me?”

“I… I suppose…?”

Alyssa gets to her feet and wipes her eyes, clearing her throat to get her voice back under control. “Can you… Can you tell Emma that I’m sorry? For… For everything?”

His eyes get just a little wider, and she watches the realization hit him. “Oh, kid,” he whispers.

She can’t look at him any longer.

She turns away, and she walks back into the prom.

* * *

**XXV.**

Shelby sits next to Kaylee in front of the 24 Mart, drinking a slushee until it gives her a brain freeze.

“This is out of control,” Kaylee sniffs. “The news is calling us homophobic! A town of homophobic bigots!”

“We probably shouldn’t be surprised,” Shelby mutters, wincing as the pain hits her head again.

“Oh God what’s the guy from _Talk to the Hand_ wearing.”

Shelby looks up and sees one of the Broadway guys – Trent – walking up to them in a track jacket with JUILLIARD emblazoned on the back, sunglasses, and a backwards hat.

He’s talking, but she’s not really listening, she’s leaning over to Kaylee and saying, “Is that what Nick’s going to look like in thirty years?”

Kaylee sighs and stands to stretch. “Nick’s too dumb to go to Juilliard.”

“Good point.”

Shelby tunes in to what Trent’s saying when he says, “You can’t just cherry pick the Bible deciding what things you want to believe and what things you don’t.”

Kaylee frowns at him. “We don’t do that!”

Trent puts his sunglasses away. “Oh, you don’t?” He takes Kaylee’s wrist and points at the small tattoo on her wrist, grinning. “Well, Kaylee, tattoos are taboo. Enjoy the fiery pits of hell!”

“Hey!” Kaylee exclaims, pulling her arm back.

Shelby gets to her feet immediately, stepping forward and pushing Kaylee away from Trent. It backfires, because he points at her instead.

“Shelby! If you’ve lost your virginity-”

She chokes on her slushee as Kevin hurries to her side from his game of hackysack with Nick.

“-the good book says we have to stone you and your family!”

_“What?”_

Trent goes to bother Nick next, and Shelby turns to Kevin, who looks pale.

“How does he know that?” she asks hoarsely. “Did you tell anyone?”

“Just my mom,” Kevin squeaks.

Shelby’s stomach drops. _“Your mom the preschool teacher?”_

“Uh…”

“Jesus Christ, Kevin, no wonder she doesn’t like me!”

Kevin gives her a helpless look. “I tell my mom everything!”

She stares at him as Trent continues to wreck the belief system of their entire senior class.

“You can tell her that we broke up, too,” she says, handing him her slushee.

He blinks, startled. “Wait a minute. Shelby.”

She ignores him and turns, walking over to Trent.

“You have a point,” she says.

“What are you talking about?” Kaylee demands.

Shelby swallows. “Come on,” she pleads. “Don’t you feel even _slightly_ bad for Emma? You used to be friends.”

Kaylee hesitates. “That was before she turned gay.”

Her stomach hurts in a way she knows isn’t from the sugar. “Maybe she was always gay,” she says, her voice quiet.

Trent pats her on the back, encouraging, but she’s not listening anymore.

Instead, she’s watching Kaylee’s eyes soften.

* * *

**XXVI.**

“I’m going public. Will you do it with me?”

Alyssa freezes, her mind blanking. “I-I… Emma, I want to.”

Emma’s jaw tightens, and she nods and looks away. “But you won’t.”

“It’s not that easy!” Alyssa runs a hand through her hair. “You know what my mother is like. You know _exactly_ what I’m afraid of. I can’t just… God, Emma, standing in that prom was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever experienced. I can’t… I can’t _do_ that again.”

“I would never force you to,” Emma murmurs. “I would never demand that of you. But Alyssa, I… I-I… I can’t _do_ this anymore. I can’t go through this. I thought I could handle how much pain this would be, and I _can’t. _I just… I can’t do this anymore, Alyssa.”

Alyssa feels her heart twist and ache as Emma turns and heads for the door of the annex. In a soft voice, she says, “You said you’d wait. However long it takes for me to be able to do this.”

Emma pauses, not looking back. “I would’ve. Loving you isn’t the problem, Alyssa. I’m just so tired of hiding. I’m so tired of being the kid getting into a fight in the hallway because some asshole vandalized my locker for the fifteenth time. I’m just _tired,_ Alyssa. I refuse to make you come out, but I refuse to stand in the dark anymore, either. And I can’t make the statement I want and have you at the same time. I’m…” She pauses again, her voice cracking. “I’m sorry.”

She’s gone before Alyssa can respond, and Alyssa sits on the floor slowly, hugging her knees to her chest.

* * *

**XXVII.**

Emma isn’t entirely sure what’s happening, but in a whirlwind, she’s standing in the gym, the Broadway group and Mr. Hawkins getting a prom set up after she’s given her story to the world with a guitar and a YouTube channel.

It’s everything, and yet it’s nothing.

It’s nothing without Alyssa.

Barry puts a hand on her shoulder and squeezes. “How are you doing, kid?”

She shrugs. “Pretty good. I feel good.”

He hugs her tightly. “You should. You _did_ good.”

_“What_ is going on in here?”

“Oh, God,” Emma mutters.

Mrs. Greene storms into the gym, walking up to Mr. Hawkins with a panicked fluster about her that Emma isn’t expecting. “You can’t just do this! The PTA has to approve it!”

“Actually, you don’t,” Mr. Hawkins replies calmly.

The rest of the PTA wanders in, along with a few teachers and the other seniors, Kaylee and Shelby at the head. Emma frowns, confused, as the group of kids avoid the Edgewater adults entirely and go to the other side of the gym, where Kaylee and Shelby start chatting with Trent.

“This is not what our community wants,” Mrs. Greene insists.

“The kids are part of your community, aren’t they?” Trent asks.

Mrs. Greene scoffs. “Of course they are!”

“Well. I wonder what they think.” He gives Shelby a pointed look that confuses Emma even more.

Shelby steps forward, her hands in her pockets. “Emma. I’ve been a complete jerk, and I’m sorry. You should’ve been able to go to prom like any other kid.”

Kaylee slings her arm over Shelby’s shoulders and leans against her. “Yeah, and, like, this new one should be allowed to happen, too. We’re both sorry.”

There’s a murmuring of agreement among the other seniors, and Emma blinks, baffled. “What… I-I… I thought you guys hated me.”

“We can talk about it later,” Shelby says quickly before Trent can speak.

“This just proves what I’ve been saying,” Mrs. Greene insists. “Children are impressionable, and-”

“Mom. Stop.”

Emma’s heartbeat quickens, the same way it always does when she sees Alyssa.

Her own heart is a traitor.

“Alyssa,” Mrs. Greene says, and there’s _sheer panic_ in her voice.

Oh.

_Oh._

“Mom. You have to listen to me.”

“What are you doing here, you can’t-”

_“Mom!”_ Alyssa steps up, standing right in front of her mother. “Please. Just listen. People don’t turn gay, and some crazy Broadway actors trying to make us a little more openminded isn’t going to hurt anyone. I know that this is scary, and I know that the way you were raised makes you push against all of this, but _please._ The world isn’t great, but it gets a little bit better every day because of people who have the courage to make it that way.”

She turns to Emma, and Emma’s heart stops. “People like her,” she whispers.

Mrs. Greene’s voice is nearly inaudible. “Alyssa…”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Mom,” Alyssa murmurs. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just want to be free to be who I am. Who I’ve been this whole time.”

The realization of what’s happening doesn’t hit Emma until Alyssa walks a few steps towards her and says, in fully volume, loud enough for the whole gym to hear, _“I LOVE YOU, EMMA NOLAN.”_

“Holy shit,” Emma says hoarsely.

“Alyssa,” Mrs. Greene says. “You don’t know what you’re _saying_. You-”

“If you don’t let her be who she is,” Barry interrupts, “you’ll lose her. That’s how you lose her. If you don’t want that, you can’t do this. Trust me. I know what I’m talking about.”

Emma walks forward, standing next to Alyssa and letting her take her hand for support as she whispers, _“Mom.”_

“I just…” Mrs. Greene swallows, her voice choked, tears in her eyes. “I don’t want you to have a hard life.”

Alyssa swallows. “It’s already hard.”

Mrs. Greene lets out a quiet noise, almost a sob, and bows her head. After a moment, she makes eye contact with Alyssa and says, “We’ll talk tonight?”

Alyssa nods, her hand shaking in Emma’s. “Okay.”

Mrs. Greene turns and walks out of the gym.

“Oh, God,” Alyssa whispers. “Oh, God. I just came out to my mom.”

“I think you just came out to everyone,” Emma says gently.

Alyssa hugs her tightly, letting out a light, relieved laugh. “Oh, _God!”_

Emma kisses her on the cheek and whispers, “If you’ll take me back, I think I have a prom we can go to.”

“Let me think about it,” Alyssa teases.

“Harsh, Greene.”

Alyssa hugs her tighter. “You had better get used to it, Nolan.”

* * *

**XXIIX.**

Shelby leans against the wall outside of the bathrooms, taking a slow breath.

“Hey.” Kaylee leans next to her. “What are you doing?”

“Just thinking.”

“About the complete chaos this year has been?”

Shelby laughs. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Kaylee checks her nails. “Who’d have thought that we’d break up with our boyfriends right before prom? It’s kind of dumb, really.”

“Wait.” Shelby stares at her. “What? But you came here with Nick.”

“Yeah, just because I didn’t want to arrive alone. I broke up with him as soon as I found out you broke up with Kevin.”

Shelby blinks. “What?”

Kaylee shrugs. “Solidarity.”

“Kaylee, that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” Shelby isn’t sure why the thought of Kaylee breaking up with Nick panics her when she never liked Nick, but it’s sending her into a complete spiral. “You can’t just dump your boyfriend for the fun of it. What the hell?”

“You’re being dramatic.” Kaylee rolls her eyes and goes into the bathroom.

Shelby follows. “I’m not being dramatic. Break up with him when we hit summer vacation or something. Doing it now is just weird.”

“You broke up now. How is it different?”

“It just…” Shelby does not have a good answer for that. “It just is.”

Kaylee laughs. “Oh my God. What are you so mad about? It’s not a big deal.”

“I-I… Just…” Shelby reaches into her purse and takes out a flask, taking a large sip of it.

“Jesus _Christ,_ Shel!” Kaylee snatches it away from her and sniffs it before sealing it and putting it in her own purse. “Vodka? What has gotten into you? I’m not having our salutatorian get banned from graduation because she got _wasted_ at prom, so I’m keeping this until you get your common fucking sense back. We drink _after_ we leave.”

“R-Right. Yeah. Sure.” Shelby rubs her hands together.

Kaylee rests her hand on Shelby’s forehead briefly. As her hand drops back down to her side, she says, “Seriously, what is-”

Shelby grabs Kaylee’s shoulders, pulls her forward, and kisses her.

It lasts just a _little_ too long. Shelby’s hands frozen in place, Kaylee’s moving around to clutch at her back, tongues, teeth, a breathless moan that Shelby’s not entirely sure who made.

Her brain catches up to what she’s done far too late for her to write it off as a moment of sheer stupidity.

She practically shoves Kaylee away from her, panic and fear overpowering every other bit of sense in her head.

Kaylee looks confused. Flustered.

Shelby doesn’t have time to figure out what that means.

“I-I’m… Oh, fuck,” she rasps.

She rushes out of the bathroom, rushes out of prom, and prays that Kaylee drinks the rest of the vodka and forgets.

* * *

**XXIX.**

Alyssa wakes in Emma’s bed.

She’s confused at first, and a little worried, because it’s something she’s only done once before. But her memory reminds her quickly of all that they did the night before, of Emma on top of her, of her kissing her way down Emma’s torso, and all of the worry and confusion vanishes.

They’re them.

They’re _them,_ and no one can take that away anymore.

Alyssa watches Emma sleep for a moment, tousled hair and splayed arms and the marks Alyssa left on her chest and throat moving as she breathes. She rolls and gets on top of Emma, kissing her under her jaw.

Emma whimpers quietly in her sleep.

Alyssa giggles softly and starts pressing more kisses along her jawline, down her throat, across her collarbone.

She nips softly at Emma’s sternum, and Emma groans.

“Alyssa,” she mumbles. “What are you…?”

“You said your grandmother would be back in the morning. So I figure we should get the most out of the time we have left, shouldn’t we?”

Emma is awake by the time she finishes her sentence. “Have I ever told you that you’re the most brilliant woman alive?”

Alyssa grins. “You could stand to mention it more often.”

* * *

**XXX.**

Emma takes Alyssa’s hand and pulls her away from the crowds at graduation, ducking under the bleachers.

“It was a very good speech,” Emma says as Alyssa plays with her tie. “I’m very proud of you. And I appreciated the shoutout.”

“Saying your name would’ve been too petty of me, so I figured that using a line from your song just tossed into the valedictorian speech would be just petty enough.” Alyssa pulls Emma forward by the tie and kisses her. “We did it.”

“We did it.”

“We graduated.”

Emma grins. “And I didn’t get into any more fights.”

“True, though I think Dee Dee might’ve gotten into one in the stands.”

“That’s not much of a shock, though.” Emma rubs the back of her neck. “Are Kaylee and Shelby okay? It’s like they’re avoiding each other.”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t talked to them too much since prom. I want to have an actual conversation with them about some stuff. But you are right, though. Something’s up there. I’ve never seen Shelby deliberately try not to take a picture with Kaylee.”

“Weird.”

“Yeah, but I don’t really want to think about other people right now.”

Emma raises an eyebrow. “Oh, is that so?”

“Indeed.” Alyssa skims her fingers over the tie again. “I just want to go to your truck.”

“Uh huh.”

Alyssa pulls her in closer with the tie. “And drive out somewhere private.”

“Uh huh.”

She kisses Emma under her jaw. “And park there.”

“…Uh huh.”

She nips at Emma’s ear. “And see how quickly you can take this dress off of me.”

Emma’s breathing chokes a bit. “We can do that,” she rasps. “We can do that right now.”

Alyssa kisses her, just a little bit inappropriate for somewhere they might be seen. “Then let’s keep moving.”

Emma laughs and kisses her back, and they trip over each other as they head away from the high school.


	2. Part Two

**I.**

The school hosts a party for the former seniors the day after graduation.

It goes well, until two of the only boys who won’t obey Kaylee and Shelby corner Emma behind the climbing wall as she’s heading to get a drink for Alyssa.

“Hey there, Nolan,” the bigger of the two says, loudly cracking his knuckles.

“Sean.” Emma’s eyes flicker to the thinner one. “Matt.”

“We’ve been waiting for the right time to make sure that you know the rules,” Sean says as Matt slowly circles behind her.

Emma tries to keep her attention on both of them as best she can. “Which rules would those be?”

“Anybody who wants to fuck a cheerleader has to earn it. Take their beating. That’s the only way they deserve to get under those tight, tight skirts.” Matt smirks. “Alyssa’s skirt is _really-”_

“Watch your mouth,” Emma snarls.

“Or what, Nolan? You really think you could fight both of us?” Sean snorts. “You wouldn’t last three seconds.”

“I don’t need to fight both of you. Right now, if Matt comes anywhere near me, I’ll hit him so hard he’ll wake up next week.”

She knows she’s bluffing, knows she could never fight them both, but a part of her feels like she’s angry enough to try.

She saw the look in Matt’s eyes when he said Alyssa’s name.

“Make it easy on yourself, Nolan. Don’t fight. It’ll only make us hit you harder.”

“Yeah,” Matt sneers. “And while you’re picking your teeth up off the ground, we’ll go show Alyssa why cheerleaders shouldn’t be dy-”

Emma punches him in the face.

Her glasses slide off when Sean hits her from behind, turning the fight into a blurry mess as she tries, mostly, to just hit Matt a few more times.

She can tell that someone else has joined in when she hears a fist crack hard against Sean’s jaw, but the whole situation is so chaotic that she has no idea who it is until the people chaperoning this event are there to pull them all apart.

Emma’s glasses are shoved onto her face by Trent as he drags her back by the collar of her shirt. The two boys are being separated from the scuffle by Mr. Hawkins and the basketball coach.

And there, with a bloody nose and bruised knuckles, restrained by Barry, is-

_“Shelby?”_ Emma asks, incredulous.

She gives a sheepish smile and shrugs.

“Okay.” Mr. Hawkins sighs. “Okay. I don’t even _want_ to know what this is about, because I know I’m not going to like it. Coach, take these two knuckleheads home. They want to fight, they can leave.”

There’s complaining, but they know better than to truly argue, so Sean and Matt follow the coach to the exit of the field.

Mr. Hawkins folds his arms across his chest. “You know I need to send you both out, too, right?”

Emma sighs heavily. “Yeah. I figured.”

+++

They don’t get escorted home like the boys did.

Instead, Shelby walks next to Emma, wiping the blood off of her nose with a few napkins, trying to figure out what to say.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Emma murmurs. “I could’ve figured it out.”

Shelby scoffs. “You could’ve gotten the shit kicked out of you, too.”

“Probably would’ve. But you still didn’t have to.” Emma pauses. “Why did you?”

She waits until she’s crumpled up the napkins and shoved them into her pocket. “I guess I felt like I owed you. I still owe you, but it was a start.”

Emma gives a short laugh. “Shelby, if I hated everyone who was a dick to me in high school, Alyssa would be the only person in this town I would speak to other than my grandmother, my cousin, and the principal.”

“I’m sorry. I know I owe you and Alyssa both far more of an apology than that. But I’m sorry.” Shelby is quiet for a moment. “Emma, I have something I need to tell you. Two things, actually.”

“…Okay.”

“Hiding the first prom from Alyssa was my idea.”

Emma gives her a stricken look. “You… You knew? You knew about Alyssa?”

“I figured it out. Then Kaylee saw the two of you under the bleachers during the promposals.” Shelby sighs. “We… We thought we’d be doing her a favor. Keeping her from outing herself. Keeping her from being associated with you. It was stupid, and it was wrong.”

“We broke up after that prom,” Emma admits softly. “I couldn’t handle the double life anymore. Having the second prom, Alyssa being able to come out, that’s what saved us.”

“I’m happy for you. I genuinely am, Emma.”

“What was the second thing?”

Shelby, distracted by the gashes in her knuckles, blinks. “Huh?”

“You said you had two things to tell me.”

“Oh.” Shelby clears her throat. “Uhm. I, uh…” She closes her eyes. “Do you remember that time you got into a fight with that douchebag from the track team? After… things… had been written on your locker?”

“Me getting into fights with people wasn’t exactly an uncommon occurrence, but the track team was unusual, so yeah, I think I remember that one.”

“I was the one who wrote all that stuff on your locker. That time specifically.”

Emma stops walking. Her voice is low, just on the edge of angry but not quite there yet, as she whispers, “Why?”

“I-I…” Shelby pauses, her mind going blank.

She knows why.

She’s just afraid to say it.

Shelby shakes her head and looks down, her hands tightening into fists.

Emma sighs heavily. “Whatever, Shelby. Thanks for the help today.” She starts to cross the street.

Panic and the desperate need for _someone_ to know what she’s going through spike through Shelby at the same time, and she blurts out, “I kissed Kaylee.”

Emma trips on the curb, almost falling onto the street before catching herself and turning back around. “Excuse me?”

“I kissed Kaylee at the second prom and then ran and pretty much haven’t spoken to her since.”

“Well, that is… certainly a choice,” Emma says slowly.

Shelby closes her eyes and leans against a telephone pole, covering her face with her hands. “Fuck,” she whispers. “Fuck. Wait. That wasn’t what… God, I-I meant to…”

“Hey. Shelby, slow down.” Emma steps back up onto the sidewalk and reaches out, gripping Shelby’s shoulder.

“I took it out on you,” Shelby murmurs. “I was scared, and I took it out on you.” She’s doing her best not to look at Emma, the guilt overwhelming. “The night before I… before I did that to your locker, I… dreamt… a-about Kaylee. _That_ way. I panicked, and I lashed out at the only person I could think to lash out at. It’s not an excuse, Emma. It’s nowhere near a fucking excuse. But I…” She shakes her head and closes her eyes again, trembling.

Emma’s grip on her shoulder tightens. “I’m not going to claim that I appreciated it,” she says, her voice remarkably gentle, “but I can understand it. It’s a really deep fear, Shelby, especially for how we grew up.”

Shelby swallows. “I-I think I’m in love with her. I don’t know what that means.”

“You don’t need to. Okay? You don’t need to know. But I do think you need to talk to Kaylee.”

Shelby gives a strained laugh. “You mean I can’t just pretend she doesn’t exist for the rest of the summer?”

“Given that you’re going to college less than two hours away from each other, I don’t think that’s going to help.”

“It’s even worse than that. I’m going to Princeton. It’s just an easy train ride to get up to New York.”

Emma frowns. “I thought you were going to Yale.”

Shelby shrugs, still avoiding eye contact. “They have what my dad wants me to do, but not what _I_ want to do. At least if I still go to a school with a good name he might not freak out.”

“Good for you.” Emma releases Shelby’s shoulder and puts her hands into her pockets. “Are you okay? You seemed like you really needed to say that. About Kaylee.”

Shelby lets out a thin breath. “I… I don’t know who to talk to about it, is all. I’m afraid that I’ll lose my best friend.”

“You might,” Emma says bluntly. “I don’t want to pretend that it’s definitely going to end up okay. But you’ve already taken a step forward, Shelby. There’s no going back now.”

* * *

**II.**

Kaylee doesn’t know what to do.

She wants to talk to her best friend, but Shelby has been avoiding her for weeks.

She knows why. But she just can’t take it anymore.

Shelby’s father lets her in without question, giving her a friendly pat on the back and kissing the top of her head before she heads for the stairs. She gives him a smile that she hopes doesn’t reveal how anxious she is, because she doesn’t want him to worry.

He’s the adult who has ever shown her what parental affection actually feels like.

Kaylee knocks once on Shelby’s door before opening it and stepping inside. As she closes it, she looks at Shelby, lying on her bed staring up at her ceiling.

“Hi.”

Shelby doesn’t look over at her. “Hey.”

“What are you doing?”

“I was…” Shelby pauses. “I don’t know. Thinking, I guess.”

Kaylee slides her hands into her pockets and leans against the door. “Any of those thoughts about you kissing me?”

Shelby flinches, badly, and it makes Kaylee’s heart ache. “Is it too late to try to convince you that I was drunk and stupid?”

“It was like three weeks ago, so. Yeah. Probably.” Kaylee walks over and sits down on the edge of Shelby’s bed. “I’ve missed you. We haven’t really talked since then. I… I really wanted to be there for you when you were getting ready for your speech at graduation.”

“I wanted to let you be there,” Shelby whispers. “I just… couldn’t.”

“Why?”

Shelby visibly swallows, still staring at the ceiling. “I was scared. I figured you would hate me, and I couldn’t handle the thought of going through that. It was easier to just… not talk to you.”

Kaylee kicks off her shoes so that she can pull her feet up onto the bed, sitting cross-legged and facing Shelby. “Why would I hate you?” she asks gently.

“Kay. I _kissed_ you.”

There’s a flutter of nervousness in her belly, but Kaylee just nods and keeps her expression flat. “Why did you?”

Shelby swallows again. “I… I don’t…” She closes her eyes and drops her voice to a whisper. “I have feelings for you. I don’t fully understand them yet. But I have them. I’ve… I’ve had them for a while.”

“How long?”

“I-I… I’m not sure. The first time I was really conscious of it was last year. You were walking one of the freshmen through a tough routine in cheer practice and going through the whole thing for her and you were in yoga pants and a tank top and you just… God, Kaylee, I don’t know how to explain it. I just looked at you helping this kid and looking like _that_ and all I could hear my brain think was ‘wow, I want to kiss her’. It scared the hell out of me.” Shelby runs her hands over her face. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I fucked everything up.”

“Shelby,” Kaylee says, lightly tapping Shelby’s ankle. “Can you sit up? Can you look at me? Please?”

She does, but she inches back a bit, keeping a distance from Kaylee that’s uncomfortable.

They haven’t been this physically distant from each other since the day they met.

“You didn’t fuck anything up,” Kaylee says, her voice soft and soothing. “I’m not upset with you, Shelby. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She swallows down the fear biting at the back of her mind, the hatred that’s been beaten into her brain her whole life. “You’re my best friend. I am not walking away from you just because you have feelings for me.”

Shelby closes her eyes, as if she’s waiting for a ‘but’.

Kaylee reaches out and takes Shelby’s hand, brushing her thumb against her bruised knuckles. “I’m not… I-I don’t… I’m not… sure… if I feel the same way.”

Shelby’s eyes open, and she blinks, confused. “Wait, what?”

“If I’m someone who would fall in love with a woman, Shelby, how could it ever _not_ be you?” Kaylee pauses, biting her lip. “I’m just not sure if that’s who I am. I’ve been thinking a lot since you kissed me. About thoughts I did or didn’t have. And I don’t really understand it.” She sighs and looks down. “I don’t want to make you feel like I’m leading you on or offering a false hope here. I just. I need time to figure myself out.”

“What does that… What does that mean?”

“I might like girls, too,” Kaylee admits in a whisper, and she’s amazed at the relief she feels when she says it. “But I don’t know. I need to figure it out, and I… I don’t want you to be an experiment, Shelby. You mean too much to me for me to ever let you be that.”

“I would never ask you to make me one,” Shelby murmurs. “I’d rather not have you that way than risk losing you.”

“You’re not going to lose me, Shelby. I promise you.” Kaylee shifts closer and cups Shelby’s face in her hands. Shelby closes her eyes, her breathing going clumsy. “I’m not uncomfortable, okay? I need you to believe that.” She brushes some of Shelby’s hair behind her ear. “I know that it might take a little bit for you to relax around me, and that’s okay. But I don’t want us to lose what we had. I’m not afraid to be near you. Regardless of what we figure out for our sexualities, I love you, Shelby. That’s never changing. Please don’t push me away because you’re scared.”

Shelby swallows and nods. “You swear?” she whispers.

“Swear what?”

“That you won’t just… realize that you don’t like me being like this… and just… leave?”

She’s not sure what makes her think it’s a good idea, but Kaylee presses a soft, chaste kiss to Shelby’s lips. “I swear, Shelby.”

Shelby gives a heavy, relieved sigh and lets their foreheads bump together. “I’m sorry I ran away.”

“I’m sorry I was the kind of person that made you think you had to.”

“We might both be idiots.”

Kaylee laughs. “Yeah, you’re probably not wrong on that.”

* * *

**III.**

Emma lies in the bed of her truck, looking up at the stars.

“Can you believe we’re going to leave this place?” Alyssa asks as she climbs in and lays down next to her. “I knew that was always my mother’s plan for me, but a part of me assumed it would never happen.”

“A part of me knew that I’d leave. No matter what it took.” Emma moves one of her arms from behind her head so she can tuck Alyssa against her side and hold her. “I knew for a long time that I wouldn’t survive if I stayed here forever.” She kisses the top of Alyssa’s head. “Though it would’ve been easier if I had to with you.”

“We’re going to New York,” Alyssa whispers. “We’ll be together. We’ll have the actor crew there if we need help. We… We’re really going to do this.”

“Yeah, we really are.”

“I love you, Emma. I can’t imagine doing this without you.”

Emma kisses her, soft and slow. “You could. You’re stronger than you think you are.”

Alyssa snuggles in closer. “You know, I don’t think I’ve really believed a compliment more than I do when you give them.”

“Well, believe them, because I mean every single one of them. You’re incredible, Alyssa Greene. I’d spend the rest of my life making sure you know that.” Emma pauses, flushing as she realizes what she said. “Uhm… I-I mean…”

Alyssa rolls over and shifts, her knees going on either side of Emma’s leg as she leans on Emma’s hip. There’s a glow in her eyes that Emma has never seen before, but it makes her heartbeat quicken. “Give me your hand. Your right one.”

Emma obediently holds her hand out. Alyssa takes the James Madison High School class ring off of Emma’s right ring finger and slides it onto the middle finger of her own right hand. She then reaches behind Emma’s neck and unhooks the necklace she’s wearing. Alyssa takes off her own class ring and slides it onto the thin chain, then clips it back around Emma’s neck.

Emma’s breathing is shallow as she watches Alyssa work with a determined glint in her eyes. “What are you doing?” she asks, her voice quiet and shaky.

Alyssa grips her flannel at her shoulders. “I know what you meant,” she murmurs. She leans down and kisses Emma, biting her bottom lip before pulling back. “And I feel the same. I-I… I want people to know it.”

Emma stares at her, possibly not breathing anymore. Then she surges forward, kissing Alyssa so hard that they roll over and change positions. “I love you, Alyssa Greene,” she whispers against Alyssa’s lips.

Alyssa grins up at her. “And I love you, Emma Nolan.”

* * *

**IV.**

Trent sets a slushee on the table in front of Shelby and then sits across from her, drinking one of his own. “So. You almost all packed up and ready to go?”

She nods, stirring her straw around and staring down at the colored ice. “Yeah. Dad and I are going this weekend. We’re taking Kaylee, too, because her parents are…” Shelby pauses, struggling to think of the right word to use. “Busy.”

“Do you need help?” Trent asks with a frown. “I just got a car; I can bring some stuff if you need anything. Isn’t Kaylee going to school in New York?”

“Yeah. She’s going to NYU like Emma is. We were going to drop my stuff off and then take her up.” Shelby shrugs. “I mean, you can help if you want to, but we’re okay. You don’t need to. It’s like a twelve hour drive.”

Trent waves his hand dismissively. “Please. I’ve done theater. I can stay up for twelve hours and still remember a whole soliloquy.”

Shelby laughs and shakes her head. “That would impress me if not for the fact that I’ve heard Kaylee recite the period table while actually asleep. Her and her damn photographic memory.” She takes a sip of her slushee. “I… I would appreciate it. If you came with us. I’m sure Kaylee would, too.”

“Fantastic! When I went to Juilliard, I-”

“I’m banning all conversation about Juilliard for the whole trip,” Shelby says dryly.

“You kids really needed a drama program,” Trent mutters.

Shelby looks down, fidgeting with her drink. “Uhm. Can I tell you something? Can you promise you won’t tell anyone?”

He leans forward, looking worried. “Of course. Is everything alright?”

She gives a noncommittal shrug and whispers, “I’m bisexual.”

Trent is quiet for a moment, just watching her. “Is that the first time you’ve said that to someone?”

Shelby nods, still not looking at him.

Trent reaches across the table and squeezes her shoulder. “I’m really proud of you.”

* * *

**V.**

Emma sits on the steps of the Met Fifth Avenue, relaxing in the sun and eating a sandwich. She smiles as Alyssa drops down next to her and presses a kiss to her cheek.

“Oh, God, I’m so tired,” Alyssa sighs, stealing a chip from the bag at Emma’s feet. “I had to finish a paper pretty late last night.”

“I had to call Shelby for help with Spanish homework. It was mortifying. I _know_ Spanish, but my brain just shut down.”

“Why the hell are you taking Spanish for a music education degree?”

“Liberal arts requirements. Why was college a good idea?”

Alyssa laughs. “Because most places won’t hire us if we don’t have a degree.”

“Jerks.” Emma crumples up her trash and carries it over to a trash can before sitting back down next to Alyssa. “Are you going home for Thanksgiving break?”

“I don’t think so. My mom’s been okay during our phone calls, but I… I just want some more time for our relationship to settle with her before I’m trying to have family holiday dinners. I’ll go back for Christmas.”

Emma fidgets with her watch. “I’m not going home, either. It’s just too short of a time for me to justify the travel.” She pauses. “You know, I don’t think Kaylee and Shelby are going, either. Maybe we should see if they want to meet up for dinner?”

Alyssa pauses. “Yeah. Yeah, I think that would be nice. I haven’t seen either of them in a while.”

“I see Kaylee a bit, and sometimes Shelby when she visits.” Emma squeezes Alyssa’s shoulder. “I know you’re still working through how to feel about what they did. I am, too. But they’re trying, and they’ve made a lot of progress, and I’d like to have a connection with people from home if it’s okay with you that it’s them.”

“They did more to you than they did to me,” Alyssa says softly.

“Not really.”

Alyssa pauses again. “You really do think that they’re different?”

Emma hesitates, thinking of a conversation from months prior, Shelby nervously confessing her feelings for her best friend.

A conversation she never told Alyssa about.

“Yeah,” she murmurs. “I really do.”

* * *

**VI.**

Alyssa walks into her house with a bag slung over her shoulder and a suitcase dragging behind her.

“Hi, honey,” her mother greets, giving her a tight hug. “How did you get here? You should’ve told me when your flight was getting in; I would’ve picked you up.”

“Emma’s grandmother picked us up,” Alyssa says quietly. “They just dropped me off.”

To her surprise, Mrs. Greene’s expression doesn’t flicker as she pulls back and rests her palm against Alyssa’s cheek. “Good. I’m glad you had a ride.” She pauses. “If you want, when it’s time to leave, I can drive you both back to the airport?”

Alyssa blinks and nods. “I-I’ll… I’ll ask Emma.”

Mrs. Greene kisses Alyssa on the forehead. “I’m glad you’re home,” she whispers. “It’s… It’s been a long few months without you here.”

Alyssa hugs her again. “I missed you, too, Mom.”

+++

Emma is in the middle of a snowball fight with Greg when her girlfriend’s mother pulls down the driveway.

“Shit,” Emma mumbles, her attention pulled.

A snowball smacks her in the side of the head as Mrs. Greene gets out of the car.

_“Greg!”_

He snickers and runs towards the house.

Emma brushes the snow out of her hair and off of her collar as she walks over to Mrs. Greene. “Hi. Sorry. My cousin is an idiot.”

“It’s fine.” Mrs. Greene tucks her hands into the pockets of her coat. “I… I was wondering if we could talk.”

Emma hesitates briefly before nodding and walking over to the bench on the porch. She sits down, and, after a moment, Mrs. Greene sits next to her.

The silence between them lasts for a long time, longer than Emma was actually expecting.

“I’m not really sure where to start,” Mrs. Greene says finally. “I suppose the best place would be to say that I’m… I’m sorry for doubting you.”

Emma says nothing, waiting for her to continue.

“I apologized for what happened when you and Alyssa were in high school before you went off to college, but I never truly apologized for acting like her being with you was some sort of… like it would doom her chances of having a real life. A good life.” Mrs. Greene takes in a slow breath. “She’s _happy._ I can tell that every time I talk to her on the phone. She’s happier than I think she’s ever been. I didn’t think she could be happy if she… if she was…”

“Gay?” Emma finishes softly.

Mrs. Greene nods. “I… Everything I’ve ever known about a life like that has been negative. I’ve been trying to learn more. And I’ve seen so much happiness, but so much _pain,_ too. It’s frightening, to imagine a world like that for your child. I just want to protect her. I know now that that’s not my choice to make for her. But I… I love her so much. I want the best for her. I was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to have that as a young, gay, mixed race woman from a small town.” She gives a soft, almost sarcastic chuckle. “I shouldn’t have doubted her, either.”

Emma is quiet for a moment, processing. Then, in a low voice, she says, “I want the world for her. Anything she wants, I want to be able to give her, or to be able to support her as she reaches for it for herself. I love her, Mrs. Greene. Not in some childish way of teenagers. I love her with everything I have.”

“I believe you.” Mrs. Greene looks at her, an intense glint in her eyes. “The way you talk about her is…” She swallows. “I would be lying if I didn’t admit that it’s how I always wanted someone to talk about my daughter one day.”

A faint flush heats Emma’s face, and she looks down at her hands. “I don’t need your approval. As long as I have Alyssa’s, I am not going to go anywhere. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t still want it, ma’am.”

Mrs. Greene turns away, staring out into the distance. “As long as you have Alyssa’s,” she murmurs, “you’re going to have mine, Emma.”

* * *

**VII.**

They stay in New York after their freshman year ends, hanging around in the city and visiting with their Broadway friends for a while without the stress of class.

Alyssa giggles as she clutches Emma’s hand, practically dragging her down the street.

“Do I want to know how Greg got us fake I.D.s?” Shelby asks from behind them, squinting at hers.

Kaylee smacks her arm playfully before Emma can glare at her. “You are the least subtle person alive,” she says with a laugh. “Just put it in your wallet and remember to hand the bouncer the right one.”

Shelby bumps her shoulder against Kaylee’s, a little grumpy, but does what she’s told. Alyssa snickers. “We’re not going to a bar to drink, anyway. We’re just going because it’s a party and we want a party and we aren’t going to get stared at by gross college guys if I want to make out with Emma in the corner.”

“You might not be drinking, but nobody said I couldn’t,” Kaylee retorts.

“Kaylee,” Shelby says, her voice low with warning.

“Just a _little_ drink?” Kaylee hangs on Shelby’s shoulder as they stop at a corner and gives her sad puppy eyes. “Come on. I’ve been so good.”

Shelby gives Emma a tired look.

Emma just shrugs. “Hey, you’re the one who brought her.”

Kaylee pouts harder.

“Fine,” Shelby sighs. “But I’d better not have to carry your drunk ass home on the subway, Klein.”

+++

There’s a stack of button pins on a table when they walk in, various colors of as many flags of the LGBT+ community as Alyssa can name and some she’s not even familiar with. She laughs and grabs two of the striped pink ones before tugging on Emma’s flannel and pulling her over towards the large group of people jumping to the beat of a Carly Rae Jepsen song.

“Dance with me,” Alyssa says breathlessly as she clips one of the pins to Emma’s pocket and clips the other to the collar of her blouse.

Emma chuckles and presses a quick kiss to her nose. “We have time. Take a moment, would you?”

“I am. I’m just excited.”

“I’m glad.”

Alyssa’s gaze shifts past her, to where Shelby is at the table, looking a little lost as Kaylee stands next to her, watching. “They know they don’t need to take one, right?” she asks with a laugh.

Emma gives a small smile. “Yeah. They do. I don’t think that’s the problem.”

Kaylee picks up one of the pink, purple, and blue pins and turns Shelby to face her. Slowly, clearly giving Shelby enough time to protest, she reaches up and attaches the pin to Shelby’s tanktop. Shelby looks down at it for a moment before visibly releasing a breath, nodding once, and heading further into the bar with Kaylee at her side.

Alyssa blinks, then turns to look at Emma, who’s grinning with what looks like pride. “Did…” She pauses. _“Shelby?”_

Emma meets her gaze and nods, still grinning. “I’ve known for a little while,” she murmurs. “It just wasn’t my place to tell you.”

“Wow,” Alyssa whispers. “Is that why you invited her along?”

Emma shrugs. “She’s my friend, but I do also know that she wants to experience more. Learn more.”

Alyssa kisses her on the cheek. “You’re a good friend, Emma Nolan.”

Emma snorts and lowers her voice so only Alyssa can hear her. “I gave a disaster of a bisexual a fake I.D. and let her loose in a gay bar during pride month. I’m either a good friend or the worst influence in the entire world.”

“Wait. Why is Kaylee here then?”

“Moral support? I don’t know. Shelby invited her.” Emma slides her hands into her pockets and shrugs. “I would assume it’s as a friend, because it’s been long enough that her crush has probably eased off by now.”

“Her _what?”_

“Whoops.”

* * *

**IIX.**

The incessant pounding on her door is what finally gets Emma to drag herself off of her bed and answer.

“What do you want?” she asks, and she knows her voice sounds dull and lifeless, but she can’t be bothered to care.

Kaylee looks like she just came from a yoga class, her hair pulled into a messy ponytail. She folds her arms across her chest and frowns. “Alyssa called. She said you haven’t been answering, and she sounded really worried, so she sent me to check on you.”

Emma sarcastically waves a hand in front of herself. “You’ve seen me. I’m fine. You can leave now.”

“Yeah, and you’re also full of shit.” Kaylee shoulders her way past Emma. “Alyssa might not be getting back from her trip until tomorrow, but I am not afraid to have Shelby jump on a train up here to kick your ass if that’s what it takes, so why don’t you stop lying to me and tell me what’s going on?”

“There’s nothing wrong,” Emma insists, shutting the door with an irritated slam.

Kaylee snorts and takes a seat in Emma’s desk chair. “I can’t exactly report back that I just glanced at you briefly, saw that you looked like you haven’t slept or eaten in three days, and then left you to your own devices. Alyssa will astral project to my location and murder me.”

Emma stares at her, a rebellious glint in her eyes, before the façade falters and she drops onto her back on her bed with a heavy, half-sob of a sigh. “My parents were here,” she whispers.

“Fuck,” Kaylee murmurs. She closes her eyes briefly before looking away, staring at a wall. “What the fuck did they want?”

“Money,” Emma says miserably.

Kaylee actually laughs. _“Money?_ Where the hell do they think you’d be getting money from? We’re drowning in loans. I begged Trent to have Amazon ship me a box of Easy Mac last week.”

“That’s the problem,” Emma murmurs. “They know I’m friends with the Broadway guys. Trent might be on the more normal financial spectrum, but Barry and Dee Dee have money. They want me to try to get some from them.”

“How much?”

“…Enough. More than I’d ever ask them for.”

“That’s not saying much. You wouldn’t ask them for any. You panicked when you forgot your wallet and had to ask Angie to buy you a ticket for the subway.” Kaylee is quiet for a moment. “Did they say what would happen if you… _didn’t_… give them anything?”

Emma shrugs. “Not in so many words.”

Kaylee scoots her chair closer and lowers her voice. “Em. You know you can tell me what you’re really feeling, right? I’m gonna get it. I still haven’t told anyone our secret, not even Shelby. I got really good at hiding the bruises from her during cheer.”

Emma closes her eyes and gets a flash back to being six years old, the window open in her bedroom in the middle of summer, trying to console a hurt and sobbing Kaylee in the house next door.

“Honestly, Kay, I don’t know what they’re gonna do,” she sighs. “But what choice do I have?”

“Don’t do it. They don’t deserve it. You have at least ten people who will all fight them for you, so don’t do this to yourself.”

“Ten, huh?” Emma pauses. “You and Shelby are counted in that number?”

“Of course we are.”

Emma sits up, leaning on her hands. “Okay. Yeah. You’re right. I shouldn’t let them do this.”

“It’s a miracle.”

“Don’t push it, Klein,” Emma warns, though there’s no bite to her tone.

Kaylee holds her hands in front of her. “Alright, alright.”

Emma rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “I should shower. And eat.”

“Yeah, you should.” Kaylee stands. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“No. But if I start thinking about it again, I know who to call, right?”

Kaylee smiles and nods. “Yeah. You do.”

* * *

**IX.**

Alyssa rubs her eyes sleepily as she reads the same sentence in her textbook for the fifth time. When her phone buzzes with a FaceTime call, she answers it without even looking at the contact, eager for the distraction.

She’s honestly surprised when Shelby’s face comes into view.

“Shel. Hey. What’s up?”

“I, uh.” Shelby rubs the back of her neck, looking nervous. “Does this look okay?” She pans the camera down to show a short, casual dress.

“Yeah, it looks nice. What’s the occasion?”

Shelby blushes. “I, uh. I have a date.”

Alyssa sits up a bit and leans forward. “Explain.”

“If you don’t know what a date is, Lys, I really need to have a talk with Nolan.”

“It’s a fruit,” Alyssa says sarcastically. She rolls her eyes. “Come on, Shelby.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Shelby fidgets with her necklace. “It’s a girl from one of my classes. It’s just drinks, but…” She shrugs and grins.

“Hey, technically my first date with Emma was half-study session half-make out session in the annex above the library, so whatever works.”

“I’m not sure I wanted to know that about you.”

Alyssa sticks her tongue out. “You called me, Gonzales.” She pauses briefly, adjusting her grip on her phone. “Hey,” she says softly. “In all seriousness. You look happy, Shelby.”

Shelby hesitates. “You know,” she murmurs, “I really am.”

* * *

**X.**

Emma grins as Alyssa opens the front door of her house and immediately hugs her.

“Hi, baby,” Alyssa sighs into her ear, clutching her so tight that Emma can barely breathe. “I missed you.”

“It’s only been a couple weeks, baby,” Emma laughs as she pulls back, letting Alyssa kiss her hard on the mouth. “Just since right before finals.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Alyssa kisses her again.

Betsy clears her throat loudly behind Emma. “I’m glad the two of you are enjoying yourselves, but I’d like to get inside and away from the cold before my shoes freeze to the sidewalk.”

Emma flushes and moves to the side. “Sorry, Gram.”

Betsy gives a good-natured roll of her eyes and walks into the house.

Alyssa clutches at Emma’s sweater. “Where’s Greg?”

“He went to his boyfriend’s family’s place for Christmas this year.”

Alyssa raises an eyebrow. “Oh, really? Getting serious, is he?”

Emma smirks and pulls Alyssa towards her by her hips. “You tell me. You invited us here, after all.”

“Technically, my mom invited you.” Alyssa puts her arms around Emma’s neck and kisses her again, soft and slow. “But yes. Yes, Emma Nolan, I’d say we’re pretty serious.”

Emma grins and rests her forehead against Alyssa’s. “Good,” she whispers.

* * *

**XI.**

The kiss surprises her more because she’s the one who initiates it, sitting in a booth towards the back of the dimly-lit bar.

The only woman Kaylee has ever kissed before is Shelby, and this woman – Ana – is different. She can’t explain how. She just is.

They stay in the booth, hidden away as most of the other patrons dance in the other part of the bar, kissing and letting hands wander.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Ana whispers against her lips.

“I- Yes.”

She grins and grabs Kaylee’s hand, but Kaylee tightens her grip and doesn’t move. “I-I… I’ve never… Well, I have, but not with…” She trails off, embarrassed, and bows her head.

“Hey. You know that that’s okay, right? We don’t need to go anywhere, but if you want to, you don’t need to have some quota met. Got it?”

Kaylee looks back up and nods slowly. “Thank you,” she murmurs.

“Of course.”

They walk out of the bar, towards Ana’s car, until Kaylee hears a sharp voice yell her name. She turns and sees Shelby following them out of the bar, looking worried.

Kaylee meets her halfway. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

“You know the rules,” Shelby says with a frown. She glances over Kaylee’s shoulder at Ana. “Nobody leaves with anybody without a picture, full name, and an address. And you have to text me when you get there and when you’re leaving.”

“Go ahead and take the picture now,” Ana offers.

Shelby squints at her but nods, holding up her phone and tapping a few times. “Name and address?”

“I’ll text you,” Kaylee says with an eye roll. “I promise.” She presses a quick kiss to Shelby’s cheek and tries pushing her towards the door. Before she lets go, she murmurs, “Thank you. For looking out for me.”

“You know I always will,” Shelby whispers.

They stare at each other for a moment, an awkward tension between them that Kaylee had thought was gone. Shelby’s phone vibrating with a text message is what breaks it, and she flushes a bit as she mumbles, “Don’t forget to text me so I know you’re safe.” She glances down at her phone and turns, quickly walking back into the bar.

Kaylee swallows, uncomfortable, and she sticks her hands into the pockets of her shorts as Ana steps forward to stand at her shoulder.

“Ex?” she asks softly.

“Uh…” Kaylee clears her throat. “No. Best friend.”

Ana gives a gentle laugh. “You want her, though. Don’t you?”

“I-I. I don’t really know.” Kaylee sighs heavily and closes her eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t-”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for.” Ana sets a hand on her shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Kaylee flinches, nervous and embarrassed. “You don’t have t-”

“It’s _okay._” Ana lowers her hand. “You seem like you really need somebody to talk to who doesn’t already know everything about you.”

“Yeah.” Kaylee runs a hand over her face, sighing again. “I just… I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know what I want.”

Ana gives her a soft smile and glances at the door of the bar. “I’m not really sure that’s true.”

* * *

**XII.**

Emma lies in the bed of her truck with her eyes closed, the warmth of the spring sun lulling her closer and closer to sleep.

“Babe. Hey, babe.”

Emma moves her head a bit to the side as Alyssa whispers against her ear. “Hm. What?”

“Do you want kids?”

Emma opens her eyes and turns, startled. Alyssa blushes and hides part of her face in Emma’s shoulder. “Uh. I guess I never really thought of it as a possibility.” She pauses. “That’s not to say I’m not open to it, though. Why? What made you think of that?”

“I-I don’t know,” Alyssa says shyly. “It just crossed my mind, because it… it’s something I think I’d like someday.” She swallows and tightens her grip on Emma, pressing closer against her. “Someday with you.”

It takes a moment for the words to connect to Emma’s brain. When they do, she presses a gentle kiss to Alyssa’s forehead. “Everything I want, I want with you, Alyssa.” She closes her eyes, still touching Alyssa’s skin. “I had a thought of my own the other day, but I wasn’t sure what you’d think.”

“What is it?”

“Next year. Do you want to find an apartment in the city together? Instead of using a dorm?”

She hears Alyssa take in a soft breath. “You mean live together?”

Emma swallows. “If you think it’s a bad idea, I can-”

Alyssa cuts her off with a kiss. “I think it’s a _great_ idea.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. It’ll take some work, but we can do it.”

Emma pulls her in closer and kisses her on the top of the head. “You’re right,” she murmurs. “We can.”

* * *

**XIII.**

“Nugget, buddy, you gotta stop begging for the turkey,” Emma scolds as she almost trips over the Goldendoodle puppy sitting next to the table staring at Shelby with determined intent. “Are you feeding her, Gonzales?”

“No,” Shelby says with a straight face as she hands Nugget a piece of bread.

Emma sighs. “Why?”

“It’s good for her.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Alyssa said I could.”

Emma pauses. “Yeah, that I can believe.”

The door to the apartment opens, and Kaylee strolls in carrying a covered tray. “I was told I was supposed to bring cupcakes?”

“You’re the only one in this house who’s trusted to bake,” Emma jokes as she takes the tray and sets it on a nearby table.

“I can read directions on a box,” Alyssa protests as she walks into the room and hands a glass of wine to Kaylee.

Shelby snorts. “Yeah, okay. Do you remember when we both used the exact same brand of mix and the exact same ingredients in the exact same oven for the exact same amount of time and mine turned out fine and yours were bricks?”

Alyssa pouts and folds her arms across her chest. “I did that on purpose. We were trying to make you feel better after you broke up with your girlfriend.”

“Uh-huh. Sure you did.”

Emma rolls her eyes and gently pushes Nugget away from the table with her foot. “Lys, remind me that having Thanksgiving with only our friends in our apartment is a bad choice.”

“Definitely.” Alyssa grabs Emma by the belt looped through her khakis and pulls her in against her, kissing her hard. “All holidays should just be us… together… being _together_…” she murmurs, a cheeky grin on her face.

Shelby and Kaylee groan simultaneously, and Kaylee takes a seat. “We get it already.”

“Nugget’s eating a cupcake,” Shelby says, her voice casual.

Emma pulls away from Alyssa in a panic, then looks down to see the puppy sitting at her feet, innocently looking up at her, tail thumping against the floor. She glares at Shelby. “You’re the worst.”

Shelby shrugs as Kaylee giggles. “Just keeping you on your toes, Nolan. If you can’t keep track of a puppy, how will you keep track of a kid someday?”

“U-Uhhh…” Emma pales, and she and Alyssa both start stammering incoherently.

Shelby snickers and high-fives Kaylee across the table. “Yeah,” she says as she takes a sip of her wine. “I knew the look on your faces would be worth it.”

* * *

**XIV.**

“You’re already really hot right now,” Alyssa mumbles as she walks next to Emma, taking in her bright white sneakers, black skinny jeans, and white tank top. “Have I said that?”

Emma snorts. “You’re one to talk. Short, bright orange, sleeveless dress? You’re trying to get me to die at this thing, aren’t you?”

“Maybe a little,” Alyssa teases. She cracks an orange glow stick and hooks it around Emma’s wrist. “There. Now you won’t forget where you belong.”

“Ha ha,” Emma says dryly. “Where’s yours?”

Alyssa winks at her. “I’ll just let you paint on me.”

Emma stops dead in her tracks, her brain shutting down.

Alyssa pats her on the cheek. “Honey, you can’t do anything if we don’t get there first.”

“O-Okay,” Emma says hoarsely.

+++

“Emma,” Alyssa says slowly, three seconds after the step into the loud music and glow of the blacklights, “did you… Why are your pants…”

Emma glances down at her jeans, where incredibly thin white lines are glowing from waist to ankle, matching the vibrant glow of her sneakers and her tank top. She looks back up at Alyssa and smirks. “Oh, that. It’s built into the fabric. I had Barry get them for me just for this. It’s barely noticeable in regular lighting, but in a blacklight…”

Alyssa stares at the jeans for a long moment. She grabs a drink from a nearby tray and downs it before rasping, “Yeah, we’re finding the paint.” She takes Emma’s hand and turns, but pauses before she starts walking.

“What’s wrong?” Emma asks.

She frowns and leans closer to her. “So… I’m not crazy, right? Kaylee and Shelby are in fact doing body shots off of each other’s abs in the corner.”

Emma glances over and then looks back, completely expressionless. “Yep.”

“Should we… stop them? I think they’re drunk.”

“Eh. They can deal with their own bullshit today. I’m not a bisitter.”

Alyssa snorts. “You’re mean.”

“I’m honest.” Emma kisses Alyssa neck, and she shivers. “God, your arms probably look amazing when they’re glowing.”

Alyssa reaches behind her and grips Emma’s tank top. “Why don’t we find out?”

* * *

**XV.**

The first thing Kaylee hears when she walks through the front door of her family home is her mother’s voice, sharp and loud, yelling, _“AMANDA KLEIN!”_

Kaylee sighs and closes her eyes briefly, wishing for patience, before following the voice to the living room. “Hi, Mom. How was your-”

“Explain this. _Now!”_ Her mother gets up off of the couch, waving a tablet around wildly, only holding it steady when she shoves it in Kaylee’s face.

It takes a moment for the screen to come into focus, but the moment it does, Kaylee’s stomach drops to her feet.

She can see her own Facebook page, a picture taken at a party around midterms that someone tagged her in fairly recently that she hadn’t had a chance to remove. She’s not the focus of the shot, but there’s no mistaking her in the background.

Kissing another woman.

“How did you get on my Facebook?” is the first thing Kaylee thinks to say.

“You left your tablet unlocked on the kitchen table when you went out this morning,” Mrs. Klein says. “Since you never tell us how college is going, I figured that would be the best way to find out. I didn’t expect to find out that you’ve been…” She pauses, struggling to find a word. “I expected you to be better than _this,_ Amanda. Explain yourself.”

Kaylee just stares at her for a long moment, various possible excuses running through her mind.

She decides what she wants to say barely a second before she goes with it.

“I’m bisexual,” she says, with a calm she never expected.

A part of her knows it’s coming, but she’s still, somehow, surprised when her mother slaps her.

“You do _not_ joke about that, Amanda,” Mrs. Klein says, fury in her voice.

Kaylee swallows. “I’m not joking, Mom. I’m bi-”

Her mother slaps her again.

Kaylee takes several steps back until she bumps into the wall. Anger sparks through her, and she growls, “I’m not going to apologize to you for being who I am, Mother.”

Mrs. Klein stares at her. “I am going out. I can’t even look at you right now. I want you to get your things and leave. Anything you don’t take with you will burn just like you’re going to. You have until your father gets home.” She scoffs. “Lord knows what he’ll do to you if you’re still here when he finds out about this.”

She tosses the tablet onto the couch and picks up her purse, maintaining the glare in Kaylee’s direction until she leaves the room. After another few seconds, the front door opens and slams closed.

Kaylee slides down the wall until she’s sitting on the floor. She takes out her phone, shaking, and clumsily hits one of her contacts before holding it up to her ear.

_“Hey.”_

“I-I…”

_“Kaylee? What’s wrong?”_

Kaylee swallows and whispers, “I need help.”

+++

“Kaylee?” Emma calls as she steps inside the house.

She hasn’t been there since she was a child, but it’s remarkably unchanged.

Knowing Kaylee’s parents, it’s not entirely surprising.

“In here,” Kaylee’s voice says, soft, from the direction of the living room.

Emma walks towards it and finds Kaylee sitting on the floor, her knees hugged to her chest, clutching her phone in her hands. “Hey,” she says gently. “I brought some visiting manual labor straight from New York. Why don’t I get them emptying out your room and then we can talk for a minute?”

Kaylee nods slowly, and Emma gives her shoulder a quick squeeze. “I’ll be back in a second.”

She opens the front door, where Barry and Angie are standing and holding stacks of unfolded cardboard boxes and a wheel of packing tape each. “Straight down the hall first room on the right,” Emma murmurs. “Just pack everything you can find. If it’s not hers, we’ll deal with it later.”

Barry nods and heads inside, but Angie pauses at Emma’s shoulder. “How’s the kid doing?”

“We’ll see. Not great. I just want to get her out of here.”

“We will.” Angie pats Emma on the shoulder and follows Barry.

Emma takes in a breath and goes back to Kaylee. She kneels next to her. “Kaylee. I need you to listen to me.”

Kaylee stares at her phone, mumbling something to herself that Emma can’t hear.

Emma takes Kaylee’s jaw in her hand and turns her head towards her, snapping her fingers in front of her face. “Klein! Focus! I know this is a lot, but I need you to listen to me. Your passport, birth certificate, and social security card. Where are they?”

“I-I… uhm…” Kaylee blinks, and her eyes shift a bit as if she’s realizing where she is. “I-I have my passport in my room; I never unpacked it from my school stuff. The… The other two are…” She frowns, thinking. “They’re in the safe.”

“Do you know how to get into the safe?”

“Yeah.”

“Is there anything in this house that belongs to you but isn’t in your room?”

“U-Uhm. There’s a box in the garage. Some stuff I saved from when I was a kid up until I left for college.”

“We’ll get that, too.” Emma stands and pulls Kaylee to her feet. “Come on. Let’s get what you need out of the safe first, and then work on everything else.”

Kaylee doesn’t move, instead grabbing Emma’s arms and holding on for dear life. “I-I-I… I don’t… Thank you. Thank you for coming.”

“No problem. We get each other through this shit, right?”

Kaylee hugs her, burying her face into her shoulder. “Right.”

* * *

**XVI.**

“I got a job.”

Alyssa looks up from her crossword puzzle, confused. “What do you mean?”

Emma raises an eyebrow. “I mean, I think that’s a pretty obvious statement.”

“Shut up. You know what I’m talking about.”

Emma grins and leans forward, taking a sip of her coffee. “I got a job… for next fall.”

Alyssa stares at her. “But… you won’t be at school anymore. We’re graduating.”

“Yeah, I know. But you’re going into a grad program.” Emma shrugs. “So I got a job as a substitute teacher in the city to get some experience, and then once you’re done with your master’s program, I… I thought maybe we could decide where to go from there.”

Alyssa’s eyes widen. “You… You want to do that?”

“Of course.” Emma pauses, taking another sip. “Alyssa,” she says softly, “if I haven’t made it clear by now that I want you to be it for me, I haven’t done a very good job.”

“You’ve made it clear. I’m not sure I truly believe it yet, but it’s clear.” Alyssa stands and walks around to the other side of the table, sliding into Emma’s lap. “Emma.” She kisses her. “I want you to be it for me, too.”

* * *

**XVII.**

Shelby watches, scared and confused, as Kaylee throws everything she’s brought for the weekend back into her duffel bag. “Kay, what is going on? What’s the matter?”

“What’s _wrong_ is you acting so _fucking casual_ about moving back to Edgewater after graduation,” Kaylee snarls. She grabs the wrong sweatshirt off of the couch and chucks it at Shelby’s head. “Everyone else is going to be here, Shelb! Alyssa, Emma, they’re both staying here! Why can’t you do the same?”

“If I’m going to teach, I’d rather try to establish myself somewhere back home. Trent made friends with the administrators at the middle school; he got me in taking over for one of the social studies teachers while she goes on maternity leave. It’s a good place to start, Kay.” Shelby frowns. “I would’ve thought that my best friend would be happy for me.”

“I-I am,” Kaylee stammers. “I just don’t…You can’t just _leave.”_

“Why?” Shelby asks softly.

Kaylee swallows. “It’s two years, Shelby,” she whispers. “It’ll put us apart from each other for _two years._ I… I can’t lose you.”

Shelby walks forward carefully and pulls Kaylee into a tight hug. “You’re _not_ going to lose me. You’re _never_ going to lose me. I’m going to support you through this whole program even if it has to be from a distance. You _have me,_ Kaylee. No matter what.”

She pulls back, her hands sliding down to Kaylee’s waist.

The tension that crackles between them is familiar now, but usually it gets stomped down.

Instead, they tug each other forward at the same time, barreling into a kiss so hard that they both whimper.

“We shouldn’t do this,” Shelby gasps, even as her body pulls Kaylee towards her bedroom with a mind of its own. “We shouldn’t start something right before we’re so far from each other. It’ll drive us mad.”

The words don’t seem to actually click with either of them, still stumbling in the direction of the bed, until they fall onto it. The kiss breaks as Kaylee stares up at Shelby, breathing heavily.

“You’re right,” she murmurs. “We shouldn’t do this.” Her hands rest on Shelby’s thighs, currently bracketing her hips. “But I…” She trails off, hesitant.

“But what if we did.”

Kaylee nods. “What if we did.”

Shelby starts idly unbuttoning Kaylee’s shirt. “It doesn’t need to start something. Our first kiss didn’t start anything.”

“Maybe my sexuality crisis, but that’s neither here nor there.”

Shelby laughs and kisses her quickly before resting their foreheads together. “Do you want to do this? We don’t have to. We can pretend we were tipsy and this was an accident.”

Kaylee strokes her cheek and kisses her gently. “I don’t want to take it back,” she whispers against Shelby’s lips. “I want you. I want to do this.”

Shelby grins. “So do I.”

* * *

**XIIX.**

“Do you feel anything yet?” Emma asks, frowning down at her empty shot glass.

“Nope.” Shelby picks up the bottle of vodka and refills both of their glasses. “This is, what, number six?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

On the other side of the table, Alyssa gives Kaylee a tired look. “I hate them.”

Kaylee just shakes her head. “Shelby’s been able to do this from the first drink she’s ever had. You get used to it after watching her drink an entire bottle of tequila and then beat Kevin and Nick at Mario Kart.”

“Ridiculous,” Alyssa mutters. She leans back in her chair. “Though if it hits them both all of a sudden, it’s going to be pretty funny. Shelby doesn’t need to get on a plane back to Indiana until next weekend, right? Because otherwise I think she might miss work.”

“I’d be a lot more worried if we were the ones drinking.”

Alyssa snorts. “Ain’t that the truth.”

* * *

**XIX.**

Emma presses a kiss to the back of Alyssa’s neck as she zips her dress up for her. “You look gorgeous, baby,” she murmurs.

Alyssa gives a soft sigh. “Thank you.”

“Are you ready?” Emma turns her around to face her. “You’re graduating. You’re going to be done, for real.”

“I think I am ready.” Alyssa kisses her gently. “I’m the last one. Kaylee’s graduation last week was… interesting.”

“Shelby and Trent made sure she didn’t feel bad about her parents not being there. I think she was a lot better off.”

“Your mom is coming, right?”

Alyssa laughs. “She wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

+++

Emma fidgets with the cuffs of her shirt as she waits outside.

“Are you okay?” Mrs. Greene asks, joining her. “You seem nervous. Everything went great; Alyssa’s just finishing up some administrative things and then she’ll join us.”

“No; I know.” Emma stops pacing. “It was a great graduation. Honestly I was nervous because I… I need to ask you something before Alyssa gets out here.”

Mrs. Greene gives her a soft smile, a glint in her eyes like she knows what Emma’s going to say. “Go ahead.”

Emma pauses. “I know I don’t need your permission. I would never consider Alyssa someone who needs me to ask for it. But I’d still like your blessing.” She swallows. “To ask Alyssa to marry me.”

There’s a moment where Mrs. Greene just looks at her, an unreadable expression on her face. Then she holds out her hand for Emma to shake. Once she does, she says, “Of course you have my blessing.” She uses her grip on Emma’s hand to pull her into a tight hug. “There isn’t anyone who could ever deserve it more.”

* * *

**XX.**

Alyssa clutches at Emma’s arm, beaming as they walk through the city, Nugget bouncing around on her leash in front of them. “It’s such a nice night tonight,” she murmurs.

“It is.” Emma stops near the fountain by the Met and looks into the water. “Do you remember meeting here? We’d eat lunch on the steps, since it’s about halfway between both our schools?”

“Of course I do. I loved those lunch dates.” Alyssa grins softly at her.

“So did I. Most importantly, though, I just really loved being able to be with you.” Emma pulls Nugget to them and loops the leash around her wrist, then gets down on one knee.

Alyssa’s thoughts go blank, barely processing as Emma takes a ring box out of the pocket of her coat.

“Alyssa,” Emma says softly. “You’re more to me than I could ever begin to express. I even tried to write a song to do this, and I couldn’t get the right words to paper. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Alyssa Greene. Will you marry me?”

She tries. She really tries.

She starts laughing.

Emma blinks up at her, confused. “I… Uh…”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m not laughing at you.” Alyssa kneels down and kisses her, then takes a box of her own out of her purse. “I’m just laughing because I was just about to do the same thing.”

Emma laughs and kisses Alyssa, then splutters as the dog jumps between them. She pets Nugget and gently pushes her out of the way, then says, “I guess that’s a yes, then.”

“I guess it’s one from you, too.”

* * *

**XXI.**

“Dude, come on, we have to have the Tony’s on or Barry’s gonna kill us,” Emma complains as she drops onto the couch next to Shelby.

Shelby snorts. “He’s not _my_ dad. I don’t see why that’s my problem.”

“Trent will kill you.”

“...Fine. We’ll turn on the stupid Tiny Awards and hope that Dee Dee wins for that drunk chaperone thing she’s in.”

Emma sighs. “Wow. You’re the worst adoptive Broadway daughter of all four of us.”

Shelby rolls her eyes. “Shut up.”

“Kaylee said something about you moving?”

“Yeah. I got a job in South Bend.” Shelby pauses. “Kaylee’s coming with me. She’ll have better job opportunities in the city, and if we room together we can split rent.”

Emma pauses, and Shelby knows what she’s going to ask before she says it. “Is that going to be a problem for you? How are your feelings in that department holding up?”

Shelby gives a laugh she hopes is convincing. “Oh, we’re going to be fine. We dealt with that right after high school. It hasn’t come up since.”

“Hm.” Emma leans forward and takes a piece of pizza out of the box on the table. “I can see the way you look at her, you know. I’m not an idiot.”

“Everything is fine, Nolan. Don’t read too far into it.”

Emma snorts, and Shelby hears her mumble, “Honey, I’m only on the first page.”

* * *

**XXII.**

Emma is grinning as she sits next to Alyssa in a sea of black, white, and a soft champagne color. “Hey,” she whispers in Alyssa’s ear. “Guess what.”

“What?” Alyssa murmurs back, also grinning.

“We’re _married.”_

Alyssa kisses her hard, a kiss that breaks off into a laugh when Angie whoops at them from the other side of the garden.

Emma chuckles softly. She leans in as if she’s going to kiss Alyssa again, but she freezes before she can.

Alyssa follows her gaze and tightens her grip on Emma’s hand when she sees what Emma has seen.

Her parents.

“Baby, look at me,” Alyssa says, catching Emma by the jaw and forcing her to make eye contact. “Look at me. Just me.”

“Why are they here?” Emma whispers.

“It doesn’t matter. Don’t look at them. I’ll get rid of them. I-”

Emma looks on the verge of having a panic attack. “W-What’s your mother doing?”

Alyssa turns to see her mother, looking furious, marching towards the Nolans before they can get even two feet into the garden.

“Shit,” she mumbles. She kisses Emma quickly. “Stay here.”

She gets up and hurries after her mother.

Mrs. Greene has her hands on her hips, in a hard business mode despite her fancy dress. “I mailed the wedding invitations myself. I know for a fact you weren’t invited.”

Mrs. Nolan gives her a snooty look. “It’s our daughter’s wedding. We can be here if we want to be.”

Alyssa is taken aback by the rage in her mother’s voice. “Actually, you can’t. No parent would throw their own child out of their home. And if Emma doesn’t want you here, I refuse to let you ruin this for her _or_ for my daughter.”

Mr. Nolan sneers at her. “How can you live with yourself, Veronica? How can you let this sham go on?”

Mrs. Greene stares him down. “Our children are _happy._ The fact that that’s not good enough for you says everything anyone would ever need to know about you, Patrick.”

The stare down lasts long enough that a few people at the reception behind them start to notice, and Alyssa sees Greg stand up, looking murderous, Nick and Kevin moving right with him.

The Nolans notice, and Mr. Nolan straightens his jacket. He looks past Mrs. Greene, directly at Alyssa. “That girl isn’t worth someone like you, Ms. Greene. I hope you realize that before you waste too much of your life on her.”

Alyssa gives him a cold smile. “She’s worth far more than you are. And it’s Mrs. Nolan-Greene, actually.”

Mr. Nolan shakes his head, then takes his wife’s hand and leaves.

Mrs. Greene turns and presses a kiss to Alyssa’s forehead. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Mom.” Alyssa grips her hand. “I’m more worried about Emma.”

“Don’t worry. She’ll be okay.”

+++

Emma is pulling at her tie, trying to breathe, when Mrs. Greene comes up to her and crouches down next to her. “Come with me for a minute?” she asks gently.

Emma just nods and follows Mrs. Greene into the nearby building.

Mrs. Greene sets a hand on her cheek and makes eye contact with her. “Breathe for me, honey. Okay? They aren’t here. They aren’t coming in. We aren’t going to let them ruin today for you and Alyssa.”

“I-I… It’s just…”

“It’s okay,” Mrs. Greene says gently, undoing Emma’s tie and retying it for her. “What’s going on? What are you feeling right now?”

“I guess… I guess a part of me feels guilty. Over not wanting them here.”

“I know it’s difficult, but it’s not your guilt to bear.” Mrs. Greene’s voice is soft. “Parents are supposed to do right by their children. Sometimes we make the wrong decisions. Sometimes they’re very wrong decisions. But no matter what happens, those choices are not their child’s fault. Believe me, Emma.”

“Thank you,” Emma whispers. She hugs Mrs. Greene as hard as she can manage. “Thank you.”

+++

Alyssa walks down the steps into the wine cellar to get away from the crowd, her mind still racing from the confrontation with Emma’s parents.

The look of pain on Emma’s face made her heart hurt.

She hopes to spend every day keeping her from looking like that ever again.

When she steps further into the cellar, she freezes.

Shelby and Kaylee are making out against the wall, Shelby’s hands tight on Kaylee’s hips and Kaylee’s hands in Shelby’s hair.

“Oh. Jesus.” Alyssa turns her head away, startled.

Kaylee notices her first, choking out “Fuck” and pushing Shelby away by her shoulders.

“Wha-” Shelby turns and pales. “Oh, God.”

Alyssa tries and fails to keep a smirk off of her face. “So, uh. How long has this been going on?”

“Er…” Kaylee rubs the back of her neck. “Well. We sort of…”

“We meant for it not to start anything,” Shelby says defensively. “It just kinda. Didn’t work.”

“Uh huh. How long?”

Kaylee and Shelby exchange a glance. “The end of senior year,” Shelby admits with a sigh.

Alyssa snorts out a laugh and covers her mouth. “Oh my God. You’re both idiots.”

Kaylee frowns, looking embarrassed. “I-I’m sorry that we… well, it’s not exactly great for two bridesmaids to sneak off and make out at your wedding.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for. Honestly, you really don’t.” Alyssa grins. “You both seem happy.”

Shelby grins at Kaylee, a soft look in her eyes. “Yeah. We are.”

* * *

**XXIII.**

“Everyone is going to be here in _two hours,_ Emma,” Alyssa says, running around and picking random mail up off of tables spread throughout their apartment. “Can you _please_ just vacuum?”

“It’s not like I’m not going to do it, babe, but there’s no point in doing it this early. Nugget’s just going to shed all over the house again. How we ended up with the least hypoallergenic Goldendoodle in history I have no idea.”

“Honey. We still need to get food together. We don’t have time to do it later.”

“We’ll be fine!” Emma tosses some of Nuggets toys into her toy box. “Can you stop worrying so much? Everybody knows that we have a dog, okay? It’s going to be fine.”

Alyssa runs a hand through her hair, frustrated. “We’re hosting Christmas, Em. For the first time, we’re hosting Christmas, for both of our families, in our new apartment. It needs to be right.”

Emma grabs Alyssa’s shoulders. “Hey. It’s going to be great. You’re amazing, sweetheart. Everyone is going to have a nice time tonight. I promise you.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” Alyssa grumbles.

“Well, yeah. That’s kind of my job.” Emma smirks. “As your wife.”

Alyssa’s eyes darken. “Mm. You _are_ my wife.”

“I am.”

Alyssa grips Emma’s shirt and starts backing her towards their bedroom. “It’s really nice to let that sink in sometimes.”

“Honey, I thought we were on a deadline,” Emma says with a laugh.

“I’ll be quick.”

“I don’t know whether that should concern me or not.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Alyssa says as she shuts the door behind them to keep the dog out. “You’ll definitely still enjoy it.”

* * *

**XXIV.**

Kaylee grips her water glass tightly, not really hearing whatever story about the city Shelby is telling her father.

She knows the plan.

Given how everything went for her, she’s terrified of it.

“Well, I’m glad you girls are having such a good time up there,” Mr. Gonzales says. “You seem like you’re really settling in.”

“We are.” Shelby pauses, poking at her salad with her fork. “Uhm. Dad. Could we talk to you about something?”

“Of course. Is everything okay? Do you need rent money or something?”

Shelby gives a strained laugh. “No, Dad. We’re fine with money.” She looks across the table at Kaylee, who gives a small nod despite her nerves. Shelby takes in a slow breath and says, “Dad… I-I… Kaylee and I are…” She tenses her jaw and looks down, steeling herself. When she looks back up, her voice is strong and clear as she says, “Kaylee and I are dating.”

Kaylee sees the surprise in his eyes as he looks between both of them, but it settles by the time he asks, “You are?”

“We are,” Kaylee says. “For a little while now.”

Mr. Gonzales sets his fork down.

“Dad?” Shelby’s voice is soft and scared.

He stands up from his chair. “Come here, Shelby.”

Shelby gets up and walks over to him, trembling a little. Kaylee grips the arms of her chair, waiting for the worst.

Instead, he hugs Shelby and presses a kiss to the side of her head. “I’m proud of you. Thank you for telling me. You could’ve told me that was how you felt, baby. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like you couldn’t.”

Shelby bursts into tears and hugs him tighter. “I-It wasn’t you, Dad.”

He pulls back a bit, frowning. “Is that why Kaylee’s parents threw her out?” he asks quietly. “There were rumors for the reason, but nobody ever really said why.”

Kaylee gives a stiff nod. “We weren’t dating then, but sexuality was why they kicked me out.”

Mr. Gonzales releases Shelby with another soft kiss to her forehead, then walks over to Kaylee. She stands up, nervous despite what she’s seen. Mr. Gonzales pulls her into a hug just as tight as the one he gave Shelby. “I’m just as proud of you, you know.”

Kaylee closes her eyes and sighs, and she feels her anxiety fade for the first time in longer than she can remember.

* * *

**XXV.**

“Kaylee, are you staring at my ass.”

“…No.”

Shelby laughs and pulls herself to the top of the small rock formation before looking down at Kaylee, resting her hands on her hips. “Why don’t I believe you?”

Kaylee finishes the climb twice as fast as she had been climbing. “Is it because I’m better at bouldering than you are yet I was going slower?”

“I don’t know about you being better than me, but other than that, yeah.”

“You’re a jerk. And you’re really fucking hot right now.”

Shelby laughs. “You’re really fucking hot right now, too.” She grins as she watches Kaylee brush chalk off of her hands, the sunlight shining off her hair and the forest and mountains in the distance behind her.

She had a plan. A good one.

Instead, looking at Kaylee here, right now, she just blurts out, “Marry me.”

Kaylee turns to her, startled. “What?”

“I-I’m sorry; I left the ring back at the hotel. I was supposed to do this later, but you… God, I just really want you to marry me. I love you, Kaylee. I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” Kaylee whispers. “Yes, Shelby. God, yes, I’ll marry you.”

* * *

**XXVI.**

“Connor, where’s your mom?” Shelby asks, setting her hand on top of the head of the six-year-old boy sprinting around her feet.

“Dunno!” He grins up at her. “Can you make my tie, Aunt Shelby?”

Shelby sits down and tugs him towards her, carefully tying his little tie for him. “You’re going to do a good job for me today, right?”

“Yeah. Aunt Kaylee got me this.” He points proudly at a little pin on his shirt pocket that’s in the shape of a bear. “She says it’s special for the ring bear.”

Shelby covers her mouth briefly to try to keep herself from laughing out loud. “That’s really cool. Now everybody will know how important you are.”

_“CONNOR BARRY NOLAN-GREENE!”_

“Oops,” the boy whispers as Emma walks into the room.

Emma adjusts her glasses and folds her arms across her chest. “Seriously, bud? I mean really? Your mama has been running herself ragged trying to find you. You can’t just wander off by yourself because you’re bored.”

“Sorry, Mom,” Connor says quietly, staring down at his shoes. “I just wanted to see Aunt Shelby.”

“We were talking about him being the ring bear,” Shelby says with a grin.

Emma sighs, unable to keep a smile off her face as she leans down and presses a kiss to the top of her son’s head. “Your Uncle Barry is out in the hallway. Why don’t you go hang out with him until the ceremony?”

“Okay!”

The boy runs out of the room, and Emma adjusts her glasses again. “Quit smirking, Gonzales.”

“I’m not laughing _at_ you, I’m laughing _with_ you. He’s a good kid.”

“Of course he is. He still stresses me out sometimes.”

“I think that might be the point,” Shelby says as she takes a drink from her glass.

Emma walks over to a nearby mirror and fixes her pale blue tie. “Is it too early for me to ask if you and Kaylee are going to consider that point eventually?”

Shelby chokes on her water. “Christ, Em, we’re not even married yet.”

She pointedly looks at her watch. “Soon enough.”

“Oh, Jesus.” Shelby shakily puts her glass down. “Oh, Jesus, I’m getting married.”

“Yeah, you are.” Emma sets a hand on Shelby’s shoulder. “You’re going to be fine. You love her, right?”

“I love her _so much.”_

“Hold on to that, and you’ll be able to do anything today.” Emma grins and fidgets with her own wedding ring. “Trust me on that.”

+++

Kaylee takes in a slow breath, staring at herself in the mirror. Alyssa sets her hands on her shoulders, standing behind her chair. “Are you ready?”

“For Shelby? Always. To do this? …Yeah. I just still wish my family didn’t, y’know, hate me.” She shrugs. “But honestly? To hell with them. This is mine. This is _ours._ They’re not taking anything else from me.”

“I think that’s the best way to look at it.” Alyssa squeezes her shoulders. “And you do have family here, Kay. We’re here, Trent’s here, Shelby’s dad is here. We’re here for both of you, because we love both of you.”

Kaylee gives a sharp, sudden laugh, and Alyssa frowns. Kaylee shakes her head. “It’s just that… Did you ever imagine?”

“Imagine what?”

“That the four of us would end up _here?”_

Alyssa laughs too, shaking her head. “Never in a million years.”

There’s a knock on the door, and Trent peeks in. “Hey. You ready?”

“I think so.” Alyssa holds her hand out. “You ready to go get married?”

Kaylee grins and takes Alyssa’s hand. “I am absolutely ready.”

“Then come on.” Alyssa pulls Kaylee to her feet. “Let’s get you started on the rest of your life.”


End file.
